


Partners in Crime [Read: Heroics]

by foxborosalts



Category: Persona 3, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Gen, Non-1A Centric, P3/MHA Crossover, Vigilantes/MHA Quasi-AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-15 17:26:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 41,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29936856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foxborosalts/pseuds/foxborosalts
Summary: "Come on, Minato," the woman whined. "Some sidekick you are. It's probably not as bad as you make it out to be… I think."
Relationships: Arisato Minato & Takeyama Yuu | Mount Lady
Comments: 13
Kudos: 33





	1. I

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: The intellectual property rights to Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 belong to Atlus and its respective creative directors, as does the My Hero Academia series, with Kohei Horikoshi.
> 
> Author's Notes: Thanks for your interest!

0.0

' _I'm sorry…'_

Arisato Minato still dreamt about it.

In fact, the image of his saviour had stayed with him―long past the memory. It would have been hard to forget her amber eyes peering up at him, her hand raising to rest a finger before her glossy pink lips; those lips had parted briefly and mouthed that small word of apology.

That was all he had gotten from her.

Nothing more.

All there was afterwards… was pain.

It was a mockery at best; a cruel ironic twist at its worst. It felt like a higher power, far beyond what he could fathom, had tugged at the strings of the universe to put him here.

"Stop daydreaming," the stout middle-aged man said. "Complacency breeds, Arisato. Only if you allow it to. I've seen lesser talents go to waste."

A restless sigh escaped his opponent, rebuking him with a baleful stare. The man shook his head, and with a flick of his padded gloves, lowered the protective face-guard back in place. His opponent resumed his stance, settling his hands over the bokken placed at his hips.

"Come," was all Takahara Shinji, his sparring partner, said.

Murmuring a quiet apology, Minato offered a short bow to the older man. Exhaling, he took slow, measured steps across the length of the small practice area before his strides gradually lengthened into a full-blown sprint. He met Takahara halfway, their wooden swords clashing together for the briefest of moments.

Several lifetimes' worth of experience bled into him; experience not of his own.

In the vast ocean of his subconscience, the surface rippled. Without singling out one of his manifestations, plenty fought for his attention. Flashes of memories played out in his mind's eye. It was memories of unearthly skill, of indiscriminate mayhem, of domination by sheer strength, and of elegance in motion. The background and methods differed, but the crux of the memories were the same.

Blood was shed.

And the victor alone stood tall…

Minato ducked and spun into the attack, running his blade across the length of his opponent's own. Digging the balls of his feet into the mat, he switched his grip on the hilt, and manoeuvred it into an angled thrust, springing upwards, straight at Takahara's unguarded neck.

A heartbeat later, the helmet clattered to the mat with a dull ' _thump_ '.

"Once more," the man groused, rubbing at his neck, "until I'm satisfied."

"As you wish."

0.0

"Thank you, Takahara-san."

Arisato Minato took the proffered sports drink and rolled it between his palms, allowing the cool metal to ease his aching hands.

The older man waved away his thanks. Standing outside a nearby convenience store, Takahara dug into a cheap onigiri set; one that had been a steady staple of Minato's diet―in his old life and his current one.

"You know, Arisato," Takahara said, mumbling around his food. It was strange just how different he was outside practice. "That school of yours, UA… Honestly, the talent pool must be incredible. I didn't think too much of you when you first started here."

He offered Minato an apologetic glance, slapping him on the arm.

"Being in Gen Ed, I thought you'd be a bit… _lacking_ , but I was wrong. You could go toe-to-toe with any Hero graduate. Not quite sure you'd win though…" He shrugged. "But don't let it get to you, Arisato. I'm sure you made the right choice in transferring to UA. The competition will do you good. Not like you're getting it from me," Takahara said, laughing. "Maybe you could even try moving up to their Hero track, if you apply yourself. That's about as prestigious as it gets."

He must have made a face because Takahara frowned. "Why? From what I've seen, you're more than capable enough."

"I'm happy where I am."

"Look, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with being content," Takahara said. "You're young. You've got your whole life in front of you, but that won't last. Trust me. One day you might wake up, and regret anything and everything. You got potential, Arisato. You could be one of those rare few who could leave their mark on this world, _if_ you work hard at it. That drive―having purpose in your life… It's important."

Minato gave a non-committal hum.

The awkwardness lingered, causing Takahara to sigh.

"I didn't mean to sound like this old man knows best, but think about it, will you? I'm gonna take a quick hit and run back to the dojo." Takahara pulled out a pack of cigarettes and began hitting it against the back of his hand. "You run along now. I don't want people thinking I'm polluting young, impressionable minds. See you tomorrow, Arisato. Give my best to Yao-chan if you see her!"

Minato offered a short bow and his salutations to Takahara as he left.

He didn't keep track of the time as he started his trek back to his sublet apartment. It was already dark out, and there was little else to do but watch as the rush of human traffic passed him by.

There wasn't much to differentiate the minutiae between his world and this.

It was safe to assume that it was a mirror-perfect replica of his own Tokyo. To be fair, the reality of this world was vastly different. The advent and subsequent proliferation of Quirks had altered the very fabric of society. As if to prove his point, a cat-person rushed past him, ears glued to his cellphone. Minato could hear him chattering on about a potential business deal.

It took a little getting used to when he first arrived all those months ago.

He had simply appeared in a run-down alley, albeit the location was suspect, with nothing but the clothes on his back. Half-incapacitated, he had blearily emerged to a busy intersection. The glare of dozens of neon lights and the mindless incomprehensible white noise from both passers-by and the general traffic did nothing to ease the monster thrashing about in his skull.

Then, almost all at once, it stopped. Like a picture-book, the crowd stood, transfixed at the sight of the digital billboard above them.

The news segment gave way to a live broadcast, capturing nothing but a broad back at first. The shot refocused and panned out, revealing a hulking behemoth of a man garbed in an eye-catching, multi-coloured spandex. A short but destructive battle ensued, and it wasn't long before the man towered over his mangled foe; a strange mess of feathery limbs and teeth. As if aware that he was on air, he sent a grin over his shoulder, propping his thumb up. Just like that, the spell was broken, and the crowd broke out in raucous cheers.

Back then, Minato didn't know why, but as he pulled his knees to his forehead, he started laughing. The sudden peal of delirious laughter that bubbled out of his lips slowly subsided, and the emotions that remained, the memories of a previous life―

"Hey, w-watch where you're going!" a bespectacled man said, slurring.

Minato rubbed at the spot on his arm where they had collided. He didn't say anything, but offered an apologetic bow.

"Damn kids! Absolutely no manners to 'em," the man grumbled, swaying lightly on his feet as he walked away. "It's them Quirks. Goddamn powers messing with their heads. Schools ain't teaching the right values no more. Everything's got to be flashy nowadays; got no more substance to 'em."

Minato stood to the side, resting his back against the shutters of an abandoned store. He was close to his apartment, a few more minutes off. The crowd of people had thinned the further he walked. It was in a run-down neighbourhood, quite a ways off the city centre.

He mulled over Takahara's advice.

He had a purpose, but that was in his previous life―purpose driven by the bonds he had created. Here, he was no one; just another face in the crowd.

Yet, despite all the differences he had seen…

_Apathy._

He heard voices, in hushed but aggravated tones, coming from the nearby alley. No one else around him seemed to have noticed, as sparse as the passers-by were.

_Anger._

There was a distinct _'bang'_ ; a trash bin forcefully knocked over.

_Fear._

He heard a whimper; a woman, quietly pleading. He peered around the corner, spying a gaggle of men―three of them―surrounding a blonde-haired woman.

It was still the same. At its core, humanity could and would never change. The darkness that dwelled within the collective unconscious was like a crushing torrent. No matter how hard one swam, it was inevitable to be pulled under and swept beneath it.

Elizabeth had given him a second chance in this world; one where he could decide his path in life without interference. Still, Minato was an alien here and he had no designs on being another Pro Hero to the masses. He couldn't walk away, however; not when he had the power to right the wrongs before him.

Without an evoker, his abilities were limited, but he was never helpless. The well of power inside him remained.

When Minato closed his eyes, the image of blood and fire came to mind. It was a story as old as time; of a masked deity that had been banished by its creator for biting the hand that fed.

Rakshasa, the 'maneater', demanded the stage.

He tempered the alien bloodlust inside him. Instead, another came to the fore, and he allowed the divine being entry. While Rakshasa was a being of slaughter and depravity, the persona he had chosen was its antithesis. Minato found comfort in its familiarity. The contentment of feeling whole again was welcomed, like fitting the final jigsaw piece in place. No words were exchanged. Rarely was there a need to, but sometimes it was nice to acknowledge it.

"Thank you, Hanuman."

_Hanuman._

The patron god of martial arts.

Flashes of a life not his own came to him; the memories were otherworldly. First, there was praise, then came the adulation―outright worship simply became the afterthought. It was revered as a bastion of courage and fortitude, but yearned for nothing more than to devote its being to the god, Rama. The divine monkey had, since time immemorial, lived up to that quixotic existence.

That was why, despite its appearance, Hanuman embodied the virtues of human excellence; one of which was self-control.

Wanton destruction wasn't on his agenda tonight.

His steps become lighter as he took to the alley, finding a degree of limberness that had not been present before. Minato tugged his bokken from its bag, shifting and twirling the wooden blade in his hand. He pulled the hood of his sweatshirt over his eyes. It wasn't much in way of protecting his identity, but it was dark enough to obscure his face, if he kept to the shadows.

"Oi, Ryuuji… There's someone coming," he heard one of the men say.

"Huh? 'the hell is this circus act?"

Ryuuji had the bearings of the leader of this motley crew. He wore loud, extravagant clothes, gaudy jewellery, and had the most unfortunate beady eyes Minato had ever seen. He had taken his hand off the wall, allowing Minato an unhindered view of their captive.

The woman was like something out of a magazine; long blonde hair, sharp features, and the body to go with it. The rather plain office attire she wore seemed almost scandalous in the way it hugged her curves.

Minato had wanted to say something then, to warn them off, but he couldn't shake off the feeling that something was amiss.

The woman looked the part of a damsel in distress, but beyond the tears and the polished grimace of terror on her face, it was her eyes―her large violet eyes―that told him as much.

They were too composed.

She was in control here, and not the other way around.

"I'm sorry," Minato said, bowing. "I'll take my leave. Excuse me."

"Guh, wait― _Kyaa!_ " The blonde shrieked, crossing her arms over her chest. A finger poked out from her shoulders, gesturing to an as-of-yet-named goon. Well, one of them. "He just groped me! Devil! Molester! Satanist!"

Twin cries of 'I/he didn't touch you' rang out. Minato wanted to point out the same. In fact, the whole situation had been turned on its head.

It was bizarre.

"I get it now. It's a goddamn honey trap," Ryuuji growled, giving Minato the once-over. "And you're supposed to be the ringer? Gonna bait me with some pictures you took? Well, I won't have it! I worked hard to get to where I am! You don't own a chain of pachinko parlours by tripping over every wannabe that gets in your way! W-Where the hell do you think you're going?"

At this point, Minato had, ever so slowly, started backing out of the alley.

" _Wah~~_ Someone! Anyone! Save me~~!"

"Go! Get him! Get his phone! I want those pictures back!"

Without any further prompts, Ryuuji's underlings charged towards him at full tilt. Arguing at this point would have been pointless; any objections would have fallen on deaf ears.

Minato took half a step back. Blowing out a breath, he reared down on one knee as he slung his bokken over his shoulders.

His practice sessions with Takahara had been just that―practice. It had never devolved beyond their swords. The man had been adamant. Quirks had no place within his training hall. In this world, weapons like his were often nothing more than antiquities. It was left to people like Takahara to fly the flag of a bygone era.

Quirks were still something relatively unknown to him. It was all too easy to compare Shadows and Quirks. Certain subsets of Shadows could be identified by their appearance; the heroes of this world did the same here with their costumes. Sadly, t-shirts and jeans weren't much of a give-away, so Minato erred on the side of caution. Thankfully, the contrasting green and red of their shirts helped to separate the duo.

Green stopped short suddenly, slamming a fist into the ground. A hint of hesitation welled within Minato when he noticed his hands sink through the concrete, as if it was water, and burying it up to his elbows.

Instincts not of his own all but screamed at him to move.

A spindly concrete fist came barrelling from the side of the building next to him, almost grazing him. Another came for him, expected this time, but it emerged from the ground. It forced him into the air, using the now-inanimate fist as a perch.

Green scowled as he pulled his fists back, and Minato hopped down on solid footing, just as the concrete fist sunk back into the ground.

"You're quick, kid," Red said. "But are you quick enough to handle the both of us?"

Red reached for his slick back hair and mussed it up. Then with a warring cry, he started spiking it forward, like he was trying to shake off dandruff. The ground before Minato rippled and threw up concrete stalagmites.

Huh…

Quirks were weird like that.

What happened next was like being on auto-pilot. Aided by the unnatural grace of Hanuman, he manoeuvred around the combined efforts of the relentless duo. Each step brought him closer to his adversaries, and Minato could sense the apprehension and desperation, as their attacks met nothing but empty air. Only a being like Hanuman could have made sense of the chaotic onslaught before him and pick out the pattern inside it.

That small thrill of adrenaline that flooded him earlier was gone, replaced simply with apathy. There wasn't a point to prolonging this any longer.

Minato obliged and moved, ducking beneath and weaving around a rush of concrete stalagmites. It was a split-second blur that decided the fight. He was close, close enough to see the sweat dotting their brows, close enough that when he pulled the bokken from his hip, the wooden blade swung in a diagonal arc and found its mark at Red's temple.

There was to be no rest, no reprieve, for Green.

Green was crouched, paralysed. There was only time for the fear and apprehension to reach his eyes before Minato, shifting his grip on the plain hilt, brought the blade down upon his opponent's head with two hands.

Surveying his handiwork, Minato noted that there was a refined efficiency to his brutality. He then whispered a word of gratitude to his persona as Hanuman returned to the sea of souls.

"Thanks, kid," the woman called out to Minato. Her eyes were fixed on a phone as her thumbs blurred in front of the screen. "The other mook left by the way, but I got what I wanted from him―for now."

He couldn't let himself be seen. With this lighting, he could see her just as well as she could see him. He pulled the hood of his sweatshirt tighter over his head.

Minato turned to leave.

"You got some moves on you," she said, putting the phone away. "Guess it's not your first night out, huh? I didn't know you UA kids could go around gallivanting as vigilantes. Your provisional hero license might get revoked if they catch you swinging your sword around for the hell of it."

He kept his voice low:

"I'm not from UA."

"Ehhh~~ Then why are you wearing a UA sweatshirt? They don't sell that kinda merch outside."

He stiffened, reaching for the front of his hoodie, then quickly realised his mistake. It was still spring; his fall and winter clothes were still stored in his wardrobe. These were his personal effects. Minato had been caught flat-footed. Turning slightly, he sought her eyes―they were just as sharp as ever. The smile she gave off was like a cat toying with its food.

"Oh ho! So you are from UA," she said, coy. "For what it's worth, you did help me get out of this 'pick-pick-pickle'. We'll keep this a secret between us. But~~ If you want to come clean, you could always come wo―H-Hey!"

Without another word, Minato ran.

0.0

Takeyama Yu was alone.

In an alley.

It didn't smell or anything. She wasn't a connoisseur either. But as far as alleys go, it wasn't the worst she had ever seen. However, she found herself tapping her foot relentlessly; the phone held aside, forgotten. She was eyeing the entrance, where her pseudo-saviour had just been previously.

It just doesn't happen.

People didn't run away from her. Well… maybe they did by virtue of her Quirk. Seeing a twenty-metre tall woman usually evoked 'fight or flight' tendencies when she was hurtling their way.

But people didn't ignore her. You see, it―

"―just doesn't happen," she muttered to herself, gesturing with the phone to an unseen audience.

"What doesn't just happen?"

It wasn't hard to place the voice.

It was deep, confident, yet tinged with a hint of confusion. Ignoring that last bit, every man, woman, and child could guess who it was, given that at a particular point in their lives, they probably wished to be him.

Even her.

"All Might," she said, turning to face him with a winning smile.

Yu had heard it mentioned before in the Pro Hero circles―about their personal encounters with All Might and the sheer presence he exude. They weren't lying. She had met him before, a few times even, but that was only in passing and at a distance.

Not like this.

She had to practically crane her neck at a ninety degree angle just to see his face. It had never been this intimate. It was just the two of them… in an alley. Which, as far as clandestine meetings went, wasn't the worst she ever had.

Gosh, he was dreamy up close.

The way his brows scrunched in thought, the gleam of recognition reaching his shadowed eyes, him snapping his large hand…

_'Snap!'_

She unconsciously flinched.

"Ah ha! Aren't you Mount Lady? We've met before, haven't we? You're quite new to the Pro Hero scene―barely under a year? Excuse me for saying this, but it's hard to put a name to a face without a costume."

Yu couldn't help but smile wider. "Y-You know who I am?"

"Of course. You've done some good work since your debut―very spirited, very able. You have a lot going on for your future, young miss. Keep it up," he said, propping a thumbs up.

She would have swooned into his muscular arms, but her professionalism kept her on her feet. It did little, however, to stall a small giggling fit.

"Bwahahaha! Yes!"

That was just how she giggled―with her head and scrunched hands raised to the heavens. Plenty of her fans have said that it was an endearingly cute gesture.

"Are you all right?"

"I'm better than all right, All Might! Having my idol and the 'No. 1' Pro Hero say that to me… You just made my entire year," Yu said. "Uhm, do you mind if I get a selfie? I need to update my SNS followers."

"Perhaps later. You're out of costume. It would be inappropriate for your identity to be known to the general public."

"Then just a quick personal―"

"Was this your doing?" All Might cut in, surveying the area. "I was nearby when I heard the sounds of battle; rushed here the moment I could. It didn't last very long, did it? And the level of destruction… it's relatively tame. Quite unlike you, young miss."

When Yu smiled, she made sure that her eyes crinkled. "Whoops! Sorry about the mess here. I was just following up on a lead sans costume. It got a little heated." She gestured at her state of dress, then at the scene around her."Uhm, you mind looking the other way about all this? I'd rather they wake up and run back to their boss. I'm working towards something here. I already relayed a message up to despatch that I'll be keeping an eye on them. Pinky promise!"

"Is that so?" All Might said, rubbing his chin. "Were you alone?"

Yu laughed, saying, "I'm no slouch, All Might. I could handle myself without my Quirk. But I did have a friendly neighbourhood hero drop by to help me. Didn't catch his name, sadly. He was the strong, silent type."

"Someone new perhaps?"

Yu hid a frown. She did her best to deflect any attention away from the vigilante, but she wasn't about to tell such a bold-faced lie to All Might. Plus, there were witnesses in the form of the unconscious mooks. "Possibly. There's quite a number of rookies popping up lately. Say, how's life at UA? The students in that school must be on a whole different level than the rest of us, huh? Getting trained by All Might, no less… Fuah~~"

The switch in topic seemed to galvanise her newest alley buddy.

"I still have plenty to learn, Lady-san. This may sound superficial, but I honestly believe that the students under my care have as much to teach me as I do them. It is a humbling experience. Shaping and moulding the minds of the next generation is no easy feat. The responsibility of it can be quite daunting."

"Anyone promising you have an eye on?"

"There are a number of talented seniors that I believe are ready to take it to the next level. Why do you ask?"

Yu ducked her head down, smiling shyly. "Well, I'm looking at the next level too. I _did_ just open my agency recently."

All Might seemed to have connected two and two together. "That is a splendid idea! It will be a rewarding journey, not just for the student, but for yourself as well!"

"Haha… don't mind, don't mind. It was just a stray thought, but hearing you say all this has me convinced." Yu took a finger to her chin, saying, "Still, I don't think I'm all that experienced yet to be able to accept that kind of responsibility, especially if it's a first-year. I'd prefer to have someone with a teensy bit of experience to help me with my day-to-day issues. The hard part is that most of the older students would already have ties to other agencies, right?"

"Well, certainly not all of them. There are still students seeking newer and better experiences out there. I'm sure you've heard of our annual Sports Festival that will take place next week? Bear in mind, there will be plenty of scouts in attendance. But who knows? You might find the perfect candidate there."

Yu laughed lightly, but failed to hide the eagerness in her eyes. "I'm not the type patient enough to wait a whole week. But, who knows… Just out of sheer coincidence, I might get lucky and stumble into him tomorrow."

"That would sound like more than just a coincidence."

"Bwahahaha! You're silly, All Might. But enough of that. Say… You think I could get that picture now? Pretty please~~?"

0.0

Arisato Minato yawned.

The school bell chimed in tandem, signalling the end of the school day. It should have come sooner, especially after a brutal double period of World History. While it was a subject that required more memorisation than mental gymnastics, it was still a chore to learn an entirely different timeline than the one in his world.

When he first applied for UA at the end of the winter break, he had briefly considered repeating from the first year. But the idea of being two years older than his classmates was unappealing, to say the least. Aiming for the best school in the country was another mistake on his part.

Maybe he could still ask for a transfer…

Like clockwork, Minato reached for his well-used PE-03 P-ATL audio player and donned one of the earpiece, leaving the spare one free. He bade farewell to his homeroom teacher, Snipe, and a few of his classmates on the way out. Plenty were cordial with him, friendly even, but he couldn't shake off the feeling that he was simply a passenger in class.

It wasn't ideal, but the arrangement suited him well enough.

Just as he made his way to the door, it slid open, revealing a wall of grey. He hadn't bothered to look up at that point because a large calloused hand reached down to pat him on his shoulder.

It was emasculating.

He wasn't _that_ small.

"Ah, Arisato-shonen! How goes your studies? It must not be easy acclimating to a new school. I hope you haven't found it too stressful."

This was unexpected.

A teacher interacting with a student at school was normal. However, having the Symbol of Peace and the icon of the Pro Hero world know his name, his background even, put him on edge. Worse, he was distinctly aware that all the eyes in the room were focused on him.

"I'm coping, sir."

"I'm very glad to hear that, son," All Might said, his smile revealing a perfect set of teeth. "Very glad indeed. Now, where are you off to so soon? Club activities? Say…" There wasn't a point given how tall he was, but All Might did the motion of peeking around his back, at the plain black utility bag that held his bokken. "That wouldn't happen to be a shinai, would it?"

"It's… similar. Practising helps me focus."

"Good on you! Some say swordsmanship is a forgotten art. It'd be a waste to lose such a precious part of our history just because of the times we live in today."

It was incomprehensible how, on the surface, it sounded like mundane small talk. To him, it felt like a chess match against a grandmaster; one where his opponent saw through his moves from the very start.

"I'm sorry, sir. I have to go. My work-shift is about to start."

"Ah, don't let me keep you. I was just making a quick house call to Snipe." All Might squeezed his frame against the door to let him through, not before snapping a sharp salute. "Safe travels, Arisato-shonen!"

Removing himself from the classroom, Minato noticed that All Might passed along the same conciliatory greetings to some of his classmates. It made it seem like their short interaction was nothing out of the ordinary.

Still, as he made his way out of the campus and into the city proper, lost in the mass of students making their way out, he couldn't help but feel all of this wasn't entirely coincidental after last night's affairs. It was hard to place, like a pinprick at the back of his neck, but he had the eerie feeling that he was being watched.

…Hnnm?

Why were there so many people waving? And why were they so many men with cameras out all of a sudden?

Minato looked up and frowned.

How in the hell did he miss _that_?

What towered above him was like something out of a Super Sentai series. It was a Pro Hero he had heard plenty about, but was fortunate to never come across, given the wanton destruction she could inadvertently cause just by tripping over her own two feet.

The woman wore a purple skin-tight vest over a nude-coloured bodysuit. The outfit, lined with an orange accent, was designed with sharp, vertical "V's" that drew the attention downwards. However, Minato was drawn to her domino mask, where two horned appendages ran along the sides of her temples, poking out from her long, blonde hair.

Her violet eyes, the same ones he had seen last night, positively gleamed, when their eyes met.

Mount Lady bowed at the waist, half-crouching, to gesture at a four-storey tall signboard with a finger. A mini-version of her was on the billboard in an exaggerated pose. Next to her, a text box read: ' _The Agency of Mount Lady Is Currently Recruiting!_ '. Then, in the smaller fine print, it said: _'Only Short-listed Candidates Will Be Notified'_.

 **"Everyone, I look forward to receiving all your wonderful applications!"** Mount Lady said. **"Those UA students in the crowd! Please remember to take my agency into consideration. Your future career as a Pro Hero is important. I won't spare any expense or time to hone you into the shield that protects our society!"**

The kiss and the wink at the end brought about a rousing ovation from the mostly-male crowd.

Minato didn't think about running away this time. It would be counter-intuitive. Besides, his shift was about to start soon. So, he continued on his way, knowing that the pair of eyes were following him every step of the way.

It didn't take long.

She was waiting for him further along the road, in her normal size this time. It wasn't hard to see because she was surrounded by men; all of whom were glued to their cameras, shouting for her attention as their camera flashes went off like a dizzying light-show. When she saw him, she squeezed her way out. There was a lot of waving and smiling to her fans, much to their disappointment.

"Yahoo, stranger~~ You're not as tall, dark and handsome as I'd thought you'd be."

Minato pressed forward, ignoring her.

"It's a joke, just a joke. C'mon, I never got to thank you for last night. It was… fun." She held onto his utility bag, tugging him back. "Well, no rewards for guessing what you're hiding inside this thing."

"Calligraphy set."

Mount Lady smiled winningly. "He speaks! Finally!" She kept pace with him, but walked ahead so that she was in his face. "Ne, ne, what's your name?"

He sighed before relenting, "Arisato Minato."

"You're the strong, silent type, huh, Minato? Well, nice to meet'cha. We haven't been formally introduced, but I'm sure you know who I am." At his nod, her smile widened to the point that it was predatory. "Well, of course, a super rookie like me is bound to have her fair share of attention. It's forgivable that you didn't recognise me outside of my costume last night."

He made no effort to deny her statement, but offered a withering glare as he turned a corner into the small street that housed his place of employment.

The bell chimed as they walked in.

"Then again, I suppose it is only fair that I tell you my real name," she said, leaning in to whisper in his ear, "But~~ it's gotta be some place more intimate than…" She stopped and looked around, asking, "Minato, why are we in a konbini?"

"I work here," he said, making a beeline for the back. "Stop following me."

Looking back, her expression soured as she eyed the sterilised walls and orderly aisles lined with immaculately-shelved products. "Ugh, not anymore, you're not."

He wanted to rebut, but stopped himself upon noticing his supervisor, Yuuda-senpai; a man in his mid-twenties with medium-length brown hair. Yuuda was seated at a table at the far end of the small break room, scanning through a sheet attached to a clipboard. He mumbled around a pen:

"Yah, Arisato… Last night's stock take didn't tally." Yuuda leaned his head back to look at him. "We're missing a carton of Curry Ramen. It's a real head-scratch―"

Sadly, that was when the heroine poked her head in.

"Mount Lady?!"

"Yahoo~~" Minato was budged up against the door as Mount Lady forced her way into the break room. "You're a fan, I assume?"

"Well," Yuuda said, scratching the back of his head. "In a way. I almost rammed my bike into you once when you were fighting that snake villain last year. Thank All Might, I didn't. The insurance would have killed me."

"Ahhh, the Anaconda… That fight was a toughie. I still have lots of 'official' letters for that one lying around."

"You don't say?" Yuuda mumbled. "So uh, what brings you to the backroom of this particular J-Mart?"

"Ah, that's right." Stamping a fist into her palm, Mount Lady then dragged him over. Minato wouldn't admit it out loud, but he did try to resist; the woman was surprisingly strong. "This young man here," she poked a finger on his cheek, "I'm going to steal him away from you. I want him as my sidekick."

"Is that so?"

"Yes," Mount Lady said, serious. "I'm gonna help him reach his potential. I'm just here to get some character reference."

"Well, Arisato is a valued member of this J-Mart. He's responsible, systematic… downright a perfect worker. I would hate to see him go, but I don't think I could ever stand in the way of anyone's dream."

"You're not," Minato said. "She was just leaving."

Forcibly, he began to nudge the woman towards the door. Well, tried to anyway. She wouldn't budge an inch. Mount Lady held a finger up, oblivious to his plight. "Mah, mah… Let's do that thing that people normally do―Sorry, I meant, normal people do. You know, that thing where no one actually wins, but they each get something in return."

"You mean, compromise?"

"Yes," Mount Lady said to Yuuda, her smile strained. "Let's… compromise. See, I just opened my own agency, and expanding is a very big step for me. It's something you only get right once. Sooo~~ I need Minato to come in and help manage all that complicated stuff as my sidekick!" She smiled at Minato, adding, "If you ever feel that it's not what you want, you can leave whenever. I'll even write you a letter of recommendation, complete with an autographed picture too!"

Yuuda was nodding along. "That's a sound offer, Arisato. Not a lot of people get these kinds of opportunities, especially at your age. You'd be a knucklehead if you didn't jump at it right now."

"Exactly!"

"I mean, you'd probably earn a lot more there than you do here. Pro Heroes are paid well for all their sacrifices in the line of duty. I'm sure their subordinates are as well."

"Mah, mah… Let's not get ahead of ourselves here," Mount Lady stressed, laughing weakly. "He's still just a student, you know."

Minato furrowed his brow. "I won't get paid?"

"Of course you will! Aside from getting paid with… _experience_ , I'm sure we could work out a small stipend for you. I was totally gonna do that! Somewhere between uh… How much do you earn here?"

"Three thousand a day," Minato said. "On average."

"I could match that," Mount Lady mumbled, but hesitated when Minato frowned. "But―But I could probably do you one better, you know. It'll be long hours and lots of hard work, but you'll be fairly rewarded for it. I'm even willing to work around your schedule." She placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it. He tried not to wince. "Honestly… Where else in Tokyo could you get a boss as amazing and pretty as me?"

Minato looked to Yuuda for guidance.

The man shrugged. "Hard to argue with that."

Minato made a show of mulling it over. "I need to think about it."

As it turned out, it was the wrong thing to say.

"That's no good," Mount Lady said, pouting. "Hey, uh you… I'm bringing Minato along with me. You can manage things here without him for the time being, right?"

"Sure," Yuuda said. "Just swoop him away. That's fine, I guess." He turned to Minato, adding, "There's always going to be a place for you here. Just turn in your schedule if you ever feel like you need to clear an extra shift or two."

"I'm not―"

His reply died on his lips when she got in his face. "Minato… Have you ever seen Tokyo from way up high?"

0.0

"They're like ants down there…"

Arisato Minato stopped and stared. Idly, he realised that the woman seated next to him was peculiar, to say the least. In between bites of the famous 'Sky Soft' sundae, she'd share strange nuggets of wisdom; some more horrifying than enlightening.

"Teeny, tiny ants," Mount Lady mumbled around her spoon, more to herself than to him. "And it's all just a game. A dancing game… A game where you have to dance around the little ants. _How could you not step on ants?_ " she asked herself, aghast.

Mount Lady wasn't paying attention to him. Instead, her eyes lingered over the horizon.

It was a view unmatched in Tokyo; a panoramic view of the city that could only be offered atop the Tokyo Skytree. They were in its in-house cafe, seated at the far end with a bird's eye view over the city. As they were, their presence went virtually untouched by the odd tourist or two that ventured inside the overpriced establishment. The cafe attendants seemed familiar with her presence, and offered a kind word or two before resuming their duties.

As it turned out, the heroine had been a mascot for the famous attraction shortly into her career. Minato spied a poster depicting a chibi version of Mount Lady promoting their soft-served ice cream. In a separate bubble, her character laid out of the nutritional facts of said ice-cream, as well as the equivalent number of steps it would take to burn the calories off.

Minato eyed the monstrosity he was holding in his hand.

That was… a lot of steps.

"Mini-me ain't lying. This thing is as sinful as it is delicious." Mount Lady snorted before adding, "Being a Pro Hero has its perks, but it shouldn't surprise you that it comes with a _lot_ of red tape. When I first started out, there wasn't a lot that a rookie like me could do, especially given what I _could_ do. In the end, I came up here a lot―sometimes to think and sometimes to get lost in that giant puzzle you see in front of you." She sighed wistfully. "Tokyo is a very different place than where I grew up."

Minato raised an eyebrow, silently prompting her to continue.

She leaned in and whispered, "I ain't telling. Figure it out yourself. The fun, they say, is in the mystery."

Their conversation lulled into another amiable silence. It was only once he could see through the bottom of the translucent cup that once held his sundae, that he deigned to ask:

"Why me?"

She grinned, the toothy-kind of grin. "You look fun, like a puzzle I get to solve."

Minato tried not to sigh.

"Listen, I've seen pro-rookies bumble their way through a fight because of their nerves, but you… you made beating down goons look pretty. I'm very sure you're not a vigilante. You didn't come looking for a fight last night, and you were sharp enough to know what was going on. That was instinct, experience and talent all mushed into one. It's not something a student should have. The funny thing I found out today is…"

Mount Lady grabbed his lapel and toyed with his school pin; the one that signified his department. "You're not even in the Department of Heroics. So tell me… How could a girl not be interested in you? I don't even know your Quirk and you've already got me this excited."

"It's―"

"Don't ruin it for me! I wanna figure it out by myself!"

"Is that it?"

"Minato, I don't like going into the mushy crap, but… you have a good heart. You saw something wrong, and instead of ignoring it, you came to help. If that doesn't scream 'hero', then I obviously don't know what that word means." Mount Lady sighed heavily and went on, "Look, you have lots of good, even great, points. I'm not gonna bother with the boring rhetoric of what I could teach you to become a Pro Hero. You're not the type to fall for it. All I'm saying is that we could be good for each other.

"So… what do you say?" Mount Lady asked, biting her bottom lip. "You wanna be my kick ass sidekick?"

Minato was quiet. Then, he let out a breath.

"Five thousand."

She looked unimpressed. "Don't push it, mister. I'm willing to go up to four, max, but I'll bring you out to eat, like twice a week. Matsuya or somewhere close by―nothing pricey!"

"Agreeable."

Mount Lady cackled, taking his hands in hers and shaking them. "Bwahahaha! Hard to resist me in the end, huh? Well, you won't regret it in the long-run. I'm the type of gal that plays for keeps, and you," she rose up from her seat and booped him on the nose, "are a keeper."

Minato gave her a flat look.

"Whelp, I'd better get back and start on the boring stuff. Schools are such sticklers about safety. I have to get approval for you to come onboard and do up some forms, and _blergh-ge-urgh_ …" She made a face, but perked up almost instantly. "It'll be much better with you around."

She leaned in close―close enough that he could feel her warm breath tickle his ear. "By the way, it's Yu," she whispered. "Takeyama Yu. I'm partial to Yu-chan when I'm not in costume, but Onee-chan works too; either at work or for fun." She winked for good measure. "I'll probably drop by UA tomorrow to finalise the deets. I've never been there before. You can show me around!"

Minato groaned.

"Later, 'gator!"

She'd be the death of him…

* * *

_Wands (III)_

* * *

* * *

_Wands (III)_

* * *


	2. II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story will be something of a quasi-UA where I mash elements of Illegals into the mix. As such, certain canon backstories and timelines have been changed to suit my needs.

0.0

Arisato Minato stared at the woman through half-lidded eyes. Then, he raised a hand to gesture at the landmark in front of them. "That's the entrance." He turned slightly. "This is our main building."

Yu, in full Mount Lady regalia, looked on expectantly, but just as quickly deflated. "That's it?!" she huffed. "You just pointed at two things! Things I've already seen!" Brushing him aside, she stood at the entrance to the main building, looking around. "Now… where's that famous cafeteria I heard so much about? I heard Lunch Rush's yakisoba bread is to die for. You don't think they ran out, do you?"

He shrugged.

"No harm in trying then. Lead the w―"

"Now, I reckon y'all are getting a little too ahead of yourselves," Snipe, his homeroom teacher, said.

Snipe wore a striking outfit; not too dissimilar to that of a cowboy, albeit a futuristic interpretation of one. His full-faced mask may have made him seem cold and unapproachable, but the man was anything but. Hidden partly by his large red cape, Snipe rested his hands on his belt buckle. It parted just enough to catch a glimpse of the revolvers holstered at his waist.

Snipe walked towards Yu, the familiar jangle of his spurs accompanying his footsteps. He tipped his brim towards Yu, saying, "Mountie, always a pleasure."

Deadpan, Yu mimed pulling a gun from her hip and pointed it at his homeroom teacher. "Pew-pew-pew-pew."

Minato grimaced.

"Those are lasers. I don't use lasers."

"Schick-schick! Boom!"

"That's a shotgun. Now, you're just making fun of me," Snipe said. "Been a while, considering. Our last placement together was… two months back? The Nakano raid?"

"Right in one, senpai," Yu said, bowing. "Glad to see you're doing well."

"Well worked that one. I remember you made quite the entrance." Snipe cleared his throat. "As good as it is to reminisce, how about we get business out of the way 'fore you two go wrangle up some grub? Come, there's a meeting room inside the main hall."

"Darn tootin'," Yu chirped.

They duly followed. Along the way, his homeroom teacher was kind enough to point out an interesting fact or two about UA's extensive history. It didn't delve into one of his lectures, but it sounded well-rehearsed, like something he saved for official visitors.

"So… How's my guy like in school?" Yu asked.

"Partner here?" Snipe asked, looking down at Minato. "Reserved. He only just transferred this semester, so it's understandable. It's clear he's a good student. Very mature. Does well across all his electives, save for mine. For the life of me, I can never understand why he has so much trouble with World History." He slapped Minato on the back, chuckling. "Don't mind it too much, Arisato. You embellished a few details, but you did quite well in your last assignment."

"Huh… I didn't peg you as the studious type, Minato. Figured you'd zone out and coast through everything."

Apparently, whatever reaction he gave Yu wasn't the one she was looking for as the woman stuck her tongue out at him. They finally stopped before a nondescript door, matched only by the bland décor within.

"Colour me surprised then that you're here for him," Snipe said, gesturing to the sofa at the far end of the room. He closed the door behind him as they entered, and took the seat facing them. "Now, explain to me why you want to take Arisato here as your intern."

"Have you seen him fight?"

"UA doesn't offer combat electives for General Education students in their third year. Their final year is when they enter their specialised field. In Arisato's case, he's taken up language as his major. He's performed well enough that he's a shoo-in for a placement at the University of Tokyo."

"So you haven't seen him fight?"

"No, I have not," Snipe said, clipped. "I am aware that he practices at a dojo outside of school." He turned to Minato. "We do have club activities here on campus, Arisato. It should be similar to what you're doing outside. Have you ever considered joining? It would help you know your schoolmates better."

"It clashes with my work schedule."

"I see… Was that how the two of you met? At this dojo of yours?"

"Yup, yup," Yu said. "Pretty much that. So… Do I just sign a form or whatever? How does this work? I'm antsy to get the ball rolling, senpai!" It was remarkable how quickly she glossed over the lie―her words buttered with a quick flutter of her eyelashes and an eager smile.

Snipe was nonplussed, saying to Minato, "Do you really understand the implications of this, partner? You'll likely give up a place at a prestigious university. Isn't that why you decided to transfer to UA for your final year? To familiarise yourself with the city before you start your term at university?"

Minato nodded.

"Listen, for UA to allow you to undertake a role as a sidekick, or more appropriately, an intern in a Pro Hero's agency, you'll have to get your accreditation―accreditation you'll only get in the Heroics programme. It means you'll have to transfer again. You're at a severe disadvantage. For the past two years, your peers have undertaken steps to progress from their provisional hero license, and are preparing for the final one at the end of the year. You've missed about a dozen combat electives since then, not to mention countless internships, training camps and school-sponsored events."

"I didn't know that there would be another transfer," Minato said.

"Don't mind it." Yu waved her hand flippantly. "You're not setting a precedent here. There are, and will always be, others like you. Not every kid has their life figured out before they start high school. I'm sure there's a crash course for late bloomers."

"This _is_ serious, Mountie. That world out there waiting for you, it's not going to be pulling its punches. There's a reason why UA have such a good track record at producing Pro Heroes. We don't believe in sending our students out into the world unprepared like lambs to be slaughtered. Take my criticism bluntly, partner. I don't believe you're prepared for this."

"Jeez, that's a little harsh, senpai."

"Well, if you'd have taken more thought into advising him, he wouldn't be so lost." Snipe shook his head. "You've filled his head with delusions of grandeur. You should have known better than that, _rookie_."

"Yeah?" Yu leaned back and folded her arms over her chest. "Well, so what if I'm a rookie? I saw something every Pro Hero in UA missed. I saw Minato for what he is―a hero."

Her statement was met with an uncomfortable silence. Each second ticked by as if the palpable will of the two adults in the room were warring in plain sight. It finally gave way when Snipe sighed.

"I'll ask you again: is this what you want, Arisato?"

"I… don't know."

Unconsciously, his eyes sought for hers. The quiet look of betrayal in her eyes stung, but Yu didn't flinch; her gaze remained steady with his.

"Lately," he continued. "It feels like I'm just going through the motions. I can't find that purpose―the one that's supposed to drive me forward. I'm not sure whether I'll find it with her, but… I need to find out."

Apparently, that was the right thing to say because Yu finally looked away, smiling to herself. That, and she was happily tapping her feet.

"That's the most I've ever heard you speak," she muttered.

Even with his mask on, Minato could sense that Snipe was pensive. "You have the backing of a Pro Hero… You've managed to convince yourself that you wish to transfer… The only thing that still troubles me is the situation with your Quirk."

Yu sat up in her seat. "Wait, back up a sec. What's this about a Quirk thingy?"

"You don't know?"

Snipe looked to Minato, who could only shrug in turn. To be fair, he did try to explain yesterday, but the woman would have none of it.

"Minato doesn't know what his Quirk is. According to his doctors, it happens in rare cases, especially for Quirks that don't trigger a physical response. He does possess the genome from what I hear. It's just that they do not know what his Quirk is… yet."

"Huh, no way… I totally had you pegged as a precog-Quirk. Ugh, this sucks so bad." Yu palmed her face in her hands. "What about your parents, Minato? Couldn't they just get tested so you could figure out what your Quirk is?"

"I've been a ward of the state since I was born."

Well, that was more of a half-truth. A convenient one nonetheless. He had help concocting a background from a contact prior to him joining UA. That enabled him to have an actual presence in this world, with all the valid documentation and paper trails to go along with it. Still, he felt bad about lying so blatantly.

"Gosh, I'm so sorry, Minato! I just― _Grrrghhh!_ Foot in mouth, Yu!"

It was disconcerting how she alternated between apologetic and angry. The subsequent hug was nice though. Although, he could go without the genial pats on the back of his head.

"Yes," Snipe said. "That isn't an option."

"So what does this mean? He can't transfer without knowing what his Quirk is?"

"It's never been an outright prerequisite that you need to have a fully-functioning Quirk to enter the Heroics programme. However, it is important that you are proficient in combat to the level of our satisfaction. Officially, we don't know where you stand in that regard, Arisato."

"Great," Yu said. "Let's just do it here―right now. No time like the present."

"Pardon?"

"It's the fastest way to end this meeting." She made it sound like it was the most logical conclusion. "If you have a single shred of doubt at the end of it, I'll concede and withdraw my application. Hell, I'll even give up my agency."

"That's a little extreme."

"No, you need to understand how much I value him," Yu said, serious. "I'm all in, senpai. Minato should be game. How 'bout you?"

Snipe hummed under his breath. "I ain't a gambling man, Mountie." He made a show of reaching for his belt and pulled out both of his revolvers. "On the other hand, I am curious about what got you so riled up about him." With two quick flips of the hammer, he settled his weapons back into its holsters with practised ease.

"Partner, I just set both of my guns to 'stun'. Your task is simple. Stop me from shooting Mountie over there. I don't care what you do―to me, to this room―just stop me. Part of being a Pro Hero is being able to think on your feet _and_ overcome the odds. Prove to me that you have what it takes."

"Neat," Yu said. "I've never been a hostage before."

"Well, not to say that I didn't warn you two. But you should know that I was a pretty serious contender back in―"

Unmindful of Snipe, Minato closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

He hadn't called for a persona.

However, one had simply appeared.

In that all-encompassing darkness in which he was the centre, a predator was pawing towards him, ever silent and ever deadly. There was a quiet growl as the beast stalked, slow and deliberate, out of the inky pool of darkness. Its fur, coated in the purest sheen of white, contrasted sharply with the surroundings.

However, its presence made Minato pause and smile.

_Byakko._

Its existence was… a forlorn one.

For aeons, it had watched. For aeons, it had waited. In its adherence to duty, its existence had waned in the conscious mind of its people; its legend whispered as nothing more than a fantasy. Still, it would wait, from now until eternity, for the one true being that would stand above all―a paragon with absolute virtue.

The White Tiger presented itself before Minato and bowed its head in deference.

Minato did the same.

That was until a soft nudge to his knee brought him back.

"―don't mean to toot my own horn, but I've been a Pro Hero for longer than you've been born, partner."

He found that Yu had scooched closer―close enough that their knees were touching. She was sitting at an angle, legs crossed and facing him. However, her eyes, half-lidded as they were, were trained on Snipe. She was swishing her feet, innocently drawing attention to a collapsible baton she had hidden on the inside of her thigh-high boots.

The placement was a bit risqué.

All he had now were: a baton, a flower vase to his right and―

"I've set a few national records in my heyday. One of which was shooting two targets at naught five-hundredth of a second. That ain't fair, so I'm giving you a small handicap. It doesn't mean that I'm going to take you lightly."

―a stained glass coffee table in front of him.

It wasn't the best odds.

"But what you've got to know is that there is no―"

"Just shoot me already. Gawd~~"

Minato shared a look with Snipe.

Then, all hell broke loose.

0.0

Nezu paced before the large monitor.

The light bathed its small frame, casting an elongated shadow in the darkened room. Its eyes weren't focused on the monitor. Instead, it began miming the actions on the video, seeing how it played out with its shadow. The teachers that were gathered in UA's Situation Room chose to ignore it.

Peculiar…

"Very peculiar, indeed," Nezu said aloud. "The ferocity in which he used that baton… His movements… They're animalistic. Could you slow it down right there please, Yamada? Yes, thank you. Do you see the way he changes the grip on the baton? The way he swings it, it's almost as if they're claws."

On the video before him, played out frame by frame, was UA's latest transfer student and oddity.

Arisato Minato.

"I don't need a reminder, boss," his subordinate, Snipe, said. "I was there."

"You did ask him not to hold back."

Snipe sighed, saying to Nezu, "Famous last words, I reckon. Present Mic, could you play back the video once more? There's something I want you all to see." He waved his hands at the screen. "You can skip the parts here. I hate hearing my voice in videos."

"Man, I ain't some kinda playback monkey!"

"Then, stop sitting in the control chair," Aizawa rebuked, his voice muffled by the bandages wrapped around… well, his whole body. "Are you a DJ or a broken record? We keep having this conversation because you never listen."

Nezu shook its head.

Despite repeated insistence, mainly coming from Nezu itself, Aizawa had refused to take a leave of absence to recuperate from the injuries he had sustained during the USJ incident. Aizawa had cited the need to _'continue the momentum'_ and _'I don't want my students to get lazy. I know they're gonna get lazy'_.

"Yowww, man! Don't blame me, you damn mummy! My legs gets tired easily 'cuz I got flat feet!"

"Yes, well… Where was I?" Snipe asked. "Ah, here! When Arisato closed his eyes, something about his demeanour changed. It wasn't until Mountie tried to signal to the baton that she had strapped to her leg that I _knew_ something was amiss."

"I don't see anything," Kayama said. The '18+ Only' heroine squinted at the screen. "They both look bored because you went off on a tangent talking about all those national records you broke."

Snipe shook his head. "You had to be there. The moment he opened his eyes, his gaze was almost… _predatory_. It's like he became something else entirely in that fight."

"And the point you're trying to make is?" Vlad King asked.

"I think…" Snipe sighed. "I think Arisato has been hiding his Quirk. He knows what it is, despite what it says on the records. To what end― _the why_ ―I can't say. But you need to understand that he's a good kid. I cannot stress that enough. It hasn't been easy because he's a such difficult person to read; it's hard enough for me to engage him, much less his peers."

To prove Snipe's point, another clip was played.

This time, Nezu watched as it showed Arisato Minato, an earpiece stuck in both ears, exiting a door that led to the rooftop of the main building. He then proceeded to a nearby bench, and laid down flat, staring up at the sky. The video sped up, showing Minato re-enter the main building exactly forty-five minutes later.

There were several clips of this spliced together, all captured with a different time-stamp over the past two months.

It wasn't until the last few weeks that there was a change. A girl, whose spiky ponytail was large enough to obscure the CCTV's view, would reach there before he arrived. Arisato Minato would then turn up with a bento box in tow.

"I wasn't expecting that," Snipe said.

"It seems to me that all he needed was a fair young maiden to break down those walls." Nezu turned to Snipe, chuckling. "It turns out that you weren't his type all along."

"Aww… Young love is so cute and awkward. I'd give anything to be eighteen again," Kayama said. "By the way, Aizawa… Isn't that one of yours?"

Aizawa nodded. "Yaoyorozu Momo. As strange as it sounds, I believe I may have had a hand in this."

"Yowww~~ My bro is a natural matchmaker!"

Aizawa continued, unmindful of Yamada's comment, "It was a few weeks before I was bundled into a living mummy…" He stared pointedly at Recovery Girl, his eyes red-rimmed and bloodshot.

The elderly woman gave a small ' _humph_ ' and turned away.

"Yaoyorozu came to me asking if I knew a tutor who could help with her weapons training. It just so happens I have an old contact who owns a dojo. So, I gave his address. I didn't know this kid was already training there. I've been told quite frankly that Arisato is the second coming of Miyamoto Musashi. Take that information however you will."

"We're getting sidetracked," Cementoss said. "The crux of the matter is: Why would he see the need not to disclose his Quirk? This is all incredibly suspect, especially given the League of Villains' incursion not too long ago."

"Actually," Toshinori said. "I may know the reason why."

The man walked over to the control station and leaned over Yamada to type something on the console.

They heard a lot of mouse clicks.

"Uh, h-how do I get into my inbox from here?" Nezu heard him ask Yamada. "They sent an encrypted file to my email."

"Man, that's all saved on your local PC. You gotta use the webmail if you wanna fish it out," Yamada explained. "No, All Might… Just come on, man. Budge over, and lemme do it for you." Toshinori had begun whispering to Yamada in very hushed tones. "Yeah, and your password? You're serious?! A baby could crack that in under a second flat. Change it!"

Kayama whistled nonchalantly. "Bummer… Our 'No. 1' Pro Hero can't figure his way out of a computer."

There was a bit more fumbling between Toshinori and Yamada before the latter managed to find and play the encrypted video. Once more, it showed Arisato Minato in the foreground. The setting had changed, however. Now, it was tracking the boy as he walked through the streets of Tokyo at night. The time stamp was dated two nights prior.

"It's unsettling how much of our lives can be traced by technology," Ectoplasm said.

"I called in a favour," Toshinori continued, clearing his throat. "As I was saying, I had a run-in with Mount Lady in her civilian guise. Something she said clued me in when I heard she had handed in a request for Arisato-shonen."

The angle of the CCTV wasn't the best, but they could see Arisato Minato peeking around the corner of a building―into an alley. Nezu could sense his hesitation, but it was inevitable. Minato then pulled his hood over his head and withdrew a weapon from his bag. Barely a few minutes had passed before a hooded figure came running out, like the devil was on his heels.

"So, in short, this kid's a vigilante?" Aizawa asked. "Are the police actively looking for him, All Might?"

"No."

"At your behest?"

Toshinori remained quiet.

"So…" Nezu said. "How do we judge his actions? Is Arisato Minato a criminal for breaking the law? Or is he simply a passer-by forced to act, when he could not ignore the wrongs before him?"

"He's a good kid," Snipe said. "My gut says that and I can't ignore it. Mountie probably saw it then. She called him a hero, and it crushed me that I couldn't see that. I don't miss twice, boss."

"We can't harbour a vigilante, in UA no less," Cementoss said. "If the general public were ever to get wind of it―"

"Then, we teach him how and _what_ it means to be a Pro Hero," Snipe said. "That's the only way. It's better to have a trained hero, one with UA's backing, than risk losing him to vigilantism… or worse. I cannot have that on my conscience."

Nezu sighed.

"Does anyone else have anything to add?" it asked. "No? Any objections then?"

Cementoss and Vlad King raised their hands.

"I believe I've already stated my case," Cementoss said. "We cannot overlook his reckless past because of 'what ifs' that may or may not come to pass. Moral conundrums aside, the laws are in place for a reason and mustn't be ignored where there is a clear violation."

"Noted… I'll take that into consideration. And yourself, Kan?"

Vlad King rubbed his chin, saying, "How exactly are we supposed to cram three years worth of education in under a year for him? It's not like we're going to throw him back to being a first-year. Even if we made the appeal for a special GE-exemption, that's only been done for second years―a third year would be out of the question. That's not even factoring in his provisional hero license."

"It's nothing that can't be arranged," Nezu said. "I'll put in a good word with the Public Safety Commission―see if they can hold one in private. As for his course lessons, well… practical experience is the best teaching tool. We'll accept his transfer on the condition that Mount Lady agrees to supervise his training while he waits for his provisional examination. However, the bulk of his education remains with us. I would ask that those of you here provide your expertise as well. At their age, they're at a crucial stage of their development―both physically and mentally. This is when they form the beliefs that will carry them through their adult life."

Nezu turned to Kayama, who shuddered. "My dear?"

"T-That look… Those deep puppy dog eyes! You dare flash those things at me?! After you raided all the cheese-flavoured umaibo we had stashed in our office?!"

"Ahem, I did no such thing," Nezu said, hiding a cough behind its tiny paw. "But I do need a favour. It would put my heart at considerable ease if I were to put him under your care. Why, he won't find better role models in the entirety of UA than those of his peers in Class 3-A."

"You're just dumping him there because I got those three idiots, right?"

Nezu ignored her, smiling wistfully. "Such fine outstanding young role models… Nothing could possibly go―"

0.0

"Wrong, Minato! That's just so not right!"

Arisato Minato stared at Yu blankly.

She brushed him aside, deft fingers erasing the threadbare level of trust between them. She stood there, in front of the touch screen vending machine, looking pleased with herself. Behind him, he could hear the few patrons, who intended to dine at this particular Matsuya outlet, grumbling.

"I'm having second thoughts."

He turned to walk away, but Yu pulled him back.

" _Hnnng_ … Okay, fine! You'll get your extra large portion!" Yu conceded, huffing. She was unnecessarily rough with the machine as she amended their order. "This is a celebratory lunch, so I can shift some money around. But extra large meals are only for special occasions! On normal days, we're sticking to regular!"

To placate their anger, Minato began apologising to the other patrons, stepping out of the way so that the salaryman behind them could use the machine.

"Sorry," Yu said to the patron, as she casually leaned against the side of the machine. "Just a small tiff with my sidekick… He's my new sidekick." Her smile bordered on manic. "I have a sidekick now."

"I-I'm really happy for you, M-Mount Lady."

Minato couldn't bear to see others suffer, so he dragged the hyperactive heroine to a table. It had been two days since the fateful meeting with Snipe; two days where normalcy had returned. Sadly, that ended when Snipe pulled him aside after homeroom this morning. His transfer had been approved. He would officially join Class 3-A after the UA Sports Festival tomorrow.

Lo and behold, Yu was waiting for him outside school grounds, giddy and buzzing like a bee. She had brought him here, a Matsuya branch conveniently located near his school, to celebrate.

It wasn't long before their food arrived.

"Eiii~~" Yu scratched her temple with a finger. "Before we start eating, I, uh, got you something." She reached under the table and pulled out a smartphone from her…

He actually didn't know where she hid that phone on that skintight suit of hers.

"It's your work phone. It's kinda weird that you don't have one yourself, but I got tired of not being able to message you. Now, I don't have to wait outside your school all the time like some kind of creepy stalker." She leaned over the table, whispering, "I don't think Eraserhead likes me all that much."

This was a surprisingly sincere gesture. He was touched.

"Thank you," he said.

"Oh my God… I've known you for almost a week, and this is the first time I ever got you to smile," Yu said. "Anyway, check out your snazzy phone. It's the best I could spring for considering my budget. I already put my contact details in there. It's the only one, so it's hard to miss. Oh, you know what, wait… I'll drop you a text."

She pulled out her phone from her… convenient hiding spot and started texting. A text bubble popped up on the screen.

_**My Hot Boss:** _

_Hi~ Hi~_

_As a rule, I want you to reply me within thirty seconds upon getting my texts_

_Failure to do so will…_

_Well, you'll find out. It won't be pretty, sweetie_

"Hey, you have to answer―"

Minato put the phone down on the table, screen facing down, then proceeded with his lunch.

"Rude!" Yu huffed, digging her chopsticks into her meal angrily. "You know you should smile more often, Minato. Girls at your school might actually talk to you instead of thinking you're some emo satanist."

"Noted."

"Anyway, speaking of school, I got assigned as a protection detail for the UA Sports Festival. It's gonna be super boring, so I need you to shadow me―learn the ropes, entertain me―that kinda thing."

Minato shook his head, unwilling to speak with his mouth full.

"Eh?" she whined. "Why?"

"Charity thing for class. I have to cook."

"Sweet! I didn't know you could cook. It goes without saying that I'm gonna get some freebies, right?"

"It's for charity," he told her, deadpan.

"Don't give me that look!" Yu huffed, indignant. "I'm not a heartless monster, Minato! I just wanna mooch off you."

He sighed, then nodded his assent.

"You're the best!" She expressed her excitement with her feet, which unfortunately clattered against his shin. He tried not to wince. "Having a sidekick is the best! Now, tomorrow might not actually be so bad."

"I thought I was just an intern?"

"Semantics. You're mine forever." Yu waved him away. "I've got a few things lined up to get you up to scratch as a bonafide Pro Hero. Your school gave me a pretty long list of guidelines of how I should structure your 'on-the-job' training too. So, you don't have to worry about being thrown off the deep end."

"That's good."

"You don't look all that excited, Minato."

"Thrilled," he said absently, not looking up from his food. "I'm concentrating on my meal."

Her face soured. "Would it kill you to lighten up a bit? This is a celebratory lunch―our first lunch as partners!"

With a sigh, Minato relented. He wiped his mouth with a serviette and raised his complimentary glass of green tea. "To the first of many."

Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, his partner met his cup with hers, the porcelain clinking softly as it did. Her smile widened, so much so that he could imagine the perfect set of teeth sparkling.

"Hear, hear!"

Yu drank from her cup.

"On your dime."

And choked on her tea.

0.0

It was hot, unbearably so. The meagre gust of wind provided by the small portable fan to his left did little to alleviate the heat. Regardless, Arisato Minato toiled through.

_Scrape…_

Gaunt sunken eyes, red and puffy.

_Flip…_

A very pronounced forehead that jutted out.

_Sprinkle…_

A clammy hand reaching out to him―dangerously close to the grill…

_Thwack!_

Minato rapped the unnaturally skinny man's knuckles with his chopsticks. With it, his robotic inner rhythm had been disrupted. The man, sickly and emaciated, seemed familiar; Minato could have sworn that he had seen that particular shade of blond hair somewhere, but he couldn't place it on who.

Oh, well…

"Hoshino-san," he called out lazily.

With nary a look back, Minato returned to his work. Over the past few hours, he had refined his technique down to a 'T'. In his old life, he had spent a surprising amount of time hanging out in front of the takoyaki shop at Iwatodai Station. Somehow, this translated to a decent know-how in takoyaki preparation.

Still, borrowing their idea for 'Weird Takoyaki' proved to be a sleeper hit at the UA Sports Festival. However, his class representative, Hoshino Tamaki, had given it her own unique twist.

Speak of the devil…

"Sorry, Arisato-chi," Tamaki said. "There was a line at the little girls' room."

His class representative was a fair-skinned girl with black hair. Out of all the students in his class, he shared a close friendship with her, partly because Snipe had partnered them together when he first came to UA. Tamaki wore a traditional flowery yukata for the occasion, and in an effort to match her theme, he had been forced to adorn a happi coat, complete with a matching headband.

He nodded at the kneeling man in front of their stall.

"Ara, ara? Are you all right, sir?"

"W-What," the man croaked, clutching at his throat, "What did you make me eat?!"

"Sir, we've already put a disclaimer on our 'Takoyaki Roulette'. You have a random chance of getting one of our ingenious flavour balls. You can't blame my cook because you were unlucky enough to eat something extreme."

The only reply the man could muster was a gurgling sound.

"Hmmm… Which one did you eat, sir? The wasabi vinaigrette grenade or the piri piri chilli bomb?" Tamaki put a finger to her chin, scrunching her lips together. "Then again, it could very well be the apple cider vinegar landmine, or―"

"H-Hot!"

"That might be the piri piri chilli bomb then. Well, we do sell refreshments." Tamaki squeezed her way around him to get at the small cooler under the counter. She held out a small plastic bottle. "Here! A cool, refreshing yoghurt drink to ease the mind, body and soul. A perfect panacea for our piri piri chilli bomb special! Five hundred yen, please."

"That's daylight robbery!"

Tamaki gave the man a look. "It's not like we're profiting off anything. Most of our proceeds go towards the Polar Bear Conservation Fund. You can't put a price on the survival of an vulnerable species, can you? But… if you really think that way, the Kendo club is running a novelty drink stall around the corner."

The man looked torn.

"I heard the queue's pretty long," Tamaki continued nonchalantly. "And they're using that money to buy new equipment for their club. I guess that's nice… Not the same as saving polar bears though."

"I'll take it," he muttered.

The man left, head bowed and spirit broken. Tamaki was the polar opposite―no pun intended. She was humming to herself as she served the next batch of customers. "Hmm-hn! Takoyaki Roulette thanks you for your patronage, ma'am," Tamaki said, handing a woman her serving. "And if polar bears could talk, I'd bet they'd say thank you too!"

Minato couldn't have been distracted for more than a few seconds, but when the tell-tale click of a camera went off, his eyes snapped up to the culprit. The crowd seemed to part around her, both in awe and bewilderment.

"You look totes adorbs."

Yu inched closer to the counter and took another photo; this time a wide-angled selfie of the two of them.

Minato gave her the most lifeless stare imaginable.

"Delete that."

Yu scoffed. "Ye-uh. Not a chance." She wasn't even looking at him, instead she was smiling at her phone, texting. "Papa's been bugging me for a picture of my new sidekick. I told him to wait until you get your outfit and everything, but this works well enough."

" _Hnnng!_ " Tamaki gushed, hopping on her feet; it was no mean feat considering the wooden clogs she was wearing. "Mount Lady! I totally didn't believe Arisato-chi when he said he was going to work for you, but it's true! It's totally true!"

"So…" Yu's expression wasn't one that you would call friendly. "You're the pretty little thing Minato promised his time to today?"

"Y-Yes! My name is Hoshino Tamaki, ma'am."

"You know he was supposed to come patrol the school with me, but… I'm glad he's enjoying what's left of his high school life." Yu sighed wistfully. "Trying to make memories like this is important, especially when you're young."

Tamaki gasped. "You passed up Mount Lady for me?"

"I did it for the polar bears."

Minato tossed a few coins into their donation box. Then, with practised ease, he whipped up a half-dozen takoyaki into the packaged container, adding a generous amount of seasoning―skipping the dried seaweed entirely―and their mystery sauce for good measure.

He held it out to Yu.

Her eyes practically lit up. "You remembered I hated dried seaweed?! You're the best sidekick ever, Minato!" Yu dug into her ill-gotten meal with gusto, chewing with full cheeks. "This is really good!" she said around a mouthful. "Really, really good! I taste bits of salmon in this."

Tamaki nodded. "Our concept is roulette but with takoyaki. The flavours you get are totally random. Hence, the name," she said, sheepish. "Actually, please have this complimentary bottle of yoghurt. You might need it."

Yu bit into another ball. "Yum~~ This one has a mild wasabi after taste. Oi Minato, I want more servings."

"Go away."

This earned him a whack on the arm courtesy of Tamaki. "How could you say that so callously to a Pro Hero?"

"Yeah," Yu said. "Do you know how hard I worked to get away from Woodsy? He was just so darn persistent, but I sweet talked my way into getting a patrol route here with Death Arms." She plopped the takoyaki down on the counter and took a swig of her similarly ill-gotten drink. "When are you gonna be on break, Minato? I want you to show me around the festival grounds."

Minato peeked at his watch.

"We have that delivery order to get to," he said, turning to Tamaki. "I won't take long."

Tamaki snapped a sharp salute as she took over the reins of the grill. "You can rest easy, partner! I'll hold down the fort here!"

It wasn't hard to tell that his class representative was from Osaka, putting her accent aside. It was clear this wasn't her first rodeo. She was an experienced hand―multi-tasking the preparation, cooking and even tending to the customers. To be fair, he had only been there to support her, and not the other way around.

"Bye, Mount Lady!" Tamaki said, waving. "It's so cool to meet you again!"

Yu blinked. "We've met before?"

"A couple of months ago, when you were taking down that Twin Strike villain at Shibuya? I was there―got a selfie and an autographed picture from you. You were awesome! Japan could use more kickass women like you!"

"Tamaki, was it?"

Tamaki nodded nervously.

"That was the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me―this week at least." Expectant violet eyes turned to him, silently demanding that Minato put a word in.

"I'm leaving," he said.

Yu sighed, helping herself to another bite of her snack. "Swing and a miss," she said, munching. "Oi! Don't just go like that! Wait for me!" Yu turned and gave a quick wave to Tamaki. "Bye, sweetie! Hope we'll bump into each other again soon!"

"Go! Go! Mount Lady! Go! Go!"

Yu caught up with him fairly quick, despite the bustling crowd and the fact that he was actively brisk walking in an effort to lose her. "Awfully cheery girl that. You two got a thing going on that I don't know about?"

"No."

"You know, one word answers can get pretty annoying pretty quick, Minato. You can tell me anything. I'm your mentor―emotionally, spiritually, career-wise. It's okay if you have a little crush on her; I won't tell."

"She has a boyfriend."

"Ahhh, forbidden love―the steamiest kind!"

Minato gave her a flat look.

"Spleesh, fine… 'was just trying to tease you. Lighten up a little." Yu glanced down at the two plastic carriers in his hand. "It's a bit strange to do a delivery within school grounds, especially during a festival. Where are we going anyway?"

"The stadium."

"Why?"

"Food delivery."

"For?"

Minato sighed. Turnabout was fair play, after all. Still, the woman had a way of eating into his patience. The irony that she was still munching on the takoyaki that he had cooked for her didn't go unnoticed.

"Yu… Point ta―"

"Onee-chan," she cut in abruptly.

That actually made him stop in his tracks. "I'm not calling you that."

"Nuh-uh," she said, waggling her forefinger in his face. "I told you before. When I'm in costume, you have to call me 'Onee-chan'. My hero name works too. My identity isn't known to the general public, so you can't go around saying my name like that. In fact, there's this whole spiel about the 'Unmasked versus Masked' debate that I could get into. But… I'm eating, and I'm lazy, and it's usually more fun to complain about that when I'm drinking."

Minato took her ramblings in stride, by which he filtered all that fluff to one side. "One's for Snipe-sensei," he explained. "The other is for… an underclassman. She made it to the finals, but lost her first match, I was hoping this would cheer her up."

Yu made a face. "She?"

Somewhat unsure, Minato just nodded.

"I've only known you for a while, Minato, but it's kinda strange that all the friends you have in school are girls. You're sending out the wrong vibes if you ever want to get a girlfriend. Unless, this junior of yours… Is she cute?"

Exasperated, Minato shook his head.

Yu smiled teasingly, leaning in close. "Ahhh~~ Is that a blush I see creeping on your face? Does our silent protagonist have a thing for his cute junior?"

He chopped her lightly on her head.

"You're annoying."

He left it at that. It didn't take long for them to reach the stadium, but trying to find a way to the competitor's inner area proved to be a hassle. The odd request for directions from his schoolmates did help somewhat, but it was luck that brought the duo standing before his homeroom teacher.

"Howdy, partner," Snipe said, tipping his hat. "Glad to see that my order came through. Sorry I had to trouble you to bring it here. Can't escape my rotation right now." Snipe took the offered carrier, handing Minato a thousand yen note in return. "Keep the change. Heard the two of you are drumming up some good business. Those polar bears will be mighty thankful."

Minato bowed, adding quietly, "Thank you for your patronage, sensei."

"Mountie, I'm not even surprised you're here with him." Snipe tapped at his ears, saying, "You ain't answering the comms, and Death Arms is quite vocal about you running off to parts unknown. You mind saving me the trouble?"

"So bossy... I put it on mute for just a sec." Yu frowned, mimicking his homeroom teacher. "Hi~ Hi~ This is Mount Lady reporting in," she said, adding an unhealthy amount of false cheer in her voice. "I took a detour into the stadium to investigate the little ladies' room. It won't take five minutes."

She looked very pleased with herself.

"All goo― _Yeeowch!_ "

Snipe winced. "Yeah, that boy sure can holler. I guess I can give you your first piece of advice, Minato: Always keep your wits about you. Well, that and… don't slack off when you're on rotation."

Yu held her hands up. "Chill, senpai. I'm just here to help my intern with his little fetch quest. That's all. I'll head back once I lay eyes on this cute junior of his."

Snipe looked down at the spare carrier in his hand. Minato couldn't see on account of his mask, but he had a sneaking suspicion that his homeroom teacher was hiding a smirk.

" _Oh?_ Is that for someone?"

He gestured at the corridor behind Snipe.

"Sorry, partner. Area behind me is for competitor's only. Protocols… I couldn't even let their parents in if they begged. I suppose if you want, I could call this person out for you. We're just about done wrapping up the competition for the first-years, so the finalists should all be in their rooms."

Minato shook his head.

He had brought the takoyaki for Momo on a whim; partly to show his support after her defeat, and because he had not seen his sparring (and occasional lunch) partner for the last few days. Knowing her, she wouldn't have taken her loss well―even if she had done well given the circumstances. He couldn't be sure if his presence would be entirely welcomed. However, his offerings certainly would.

Minato gave the carrier to Snipe.

"Yaoyorozu Momo."

"You got it, partner."

"Eh? But I came all the way here to―" Yu stopped, frowning as she pressed the comms device in her ear. "Repeat that." There was a short pause as something was relayed. "Got it. I'm heading back to our quadrant―that's the main festival grounds."

The sudden shift in her demeanour was not subtle; the tenseness that set in her shoulders, the way her jawline hardened―the minutiae of it all was new to him. This was a side of Yu he had never seen before. He was reminded of the fact that the woman was actually a Pro Hero and not someone dressing up for the hell of it.

Something wasn't right.

Distracted as he was, a sharp prick stung the back of his neck. Minato slapped at it and winced as he looked down at his hand.

It was a bee.

Minato heard movement, the thunderous rumble of footfalls, echo in the walls of the stadium; it sounded as if there was a stampede. Snipe was going around, shouting directions at those milling about the area, but none of what the man said reached him―everything sounded muffled to his ears.

His head snapped up at the sounds of explosions.

Unconsciously, he found himself walking beside Yu as she turned to leave, still rubbing at the itch. Yu had pushed him back however, sparing nothing but an apologetic glance and a shake of her head. It was what she mouthed to him that rooted him to the spot:

_'I'm sorry…'_

And then she left.

In that instant, a memory came back to him.

Those attractive locks of blonde hair morphed into a short white bob. Her eyes, large and violet, bled into the most vivid tint of amber. The ghostly shades of the two women blurred before his eyes, like a camera that couldn't focus.

One put her forefinger over her lips, shushing him.

His vision swam.

A hand gripped his shoulder. Minato was only distantly aware that Snipe was talking to him, urging him to do something. He didn't know what his homeroom teacher wanted, but it was futile; all he could hear now was the sound of his own heartbeat hammering in his chest. Snipe then rushed off to parts unknown with him none the wiser.

He was breathing aloud.

Hard.

Minato sunk to his knees, like a marionette with its strings cut, staring at everything and nothing around him. The room was spinning, spiralling out of control. Even as he squeezed his eyes shut, the disorienting vertigo remained. All of it did little to ease the burning sensation that had consumed his being.

He clutched at his chest.

Can't…

Breathe…

That was until… it all stopped.

* * *

_Cups (X)_

* * *

* * *

_Cups (X)_

* * *


	3. III

0.0

The recording started.

There was nothing at first, save for an empty chair against a plain white background.

A girl came into the video frame. Her light brown hair was kept short, in a stylish pixie cut that covered her left eye. Beneath her fringe, a white medical eye patch was visible. She was dressed simply, wearing a school uniform with an oversized black bomber jacket tied around her waist.

She sat down, grinning widely into the camera.

"Do you know how you set yourself small milestones to get to where you eventually wanna be? Like… Let's say you were a boring child, and you decided that you wanted a boring job. You'd try to see which particular soul-crushingly boring job you'd be good at in school. You'd eventually find a niche; something you'd be boringly good at. So what do you do?"

She glanced at something off-camera, her predatory gaze slowly shifting from left to right.

"Study hard. Get extra tutoring. Work towards your qualifications. Find part-time jobs or internships related to that field, so that you'd gain some experience. Then, slave away for the rest of your natural-born life. It's all very cut and dry, isn't it?"

The girl paused, as if waiting for a cue.

"That's like exactly my point. Yes, yes," she said, clapping her hands in tandem. "I know it's bonkers that this… this is where humanity peaks. It's shameful really. We live in a world where eighty percent of the population has evolved, gifted with mind-boggling abilities from birth, but only a handful of them use it. Meanwhile, Tomatsu Nobuzo over here is happy to grow up _wanting_ to become an accountant."

She dragged her hands over her cheeks, mushing them together.

"My God, people… Why do we limit ourselves to be content with living life inside a societal cage? The only ones free are the villains of the world. Sure, it'd be easier to label them as non-conformists, but again, you're just seeing everything in black and white. These people are the only ones who remain true to the very core of humanity. And do you know what that core is?"

The girl sighed, brushing her bangs over her forehead.

"Self-destruction. I don't think it's something we crave consciously, but it's something that's hard-wired in every single one of us. I guess what I'm getting at is… We, as a species, are living in a fabricated world. I want to break down the walls that divide us from our true selves. The only way to do that is to break free from the shackles of society―by breaking society itself."

She hunched in closer to the camera, leaning her hands on her chin. She smiled, her cheeks dimpling.

"Welcome to the new world, everyone. My name? Well… it's Hachisuka Kuin, but you can call me Queen. I'm just a part-time villain for now; a girl's gotta start somewhere, you know? 'Sides, a good villain doesn't show her face, or her abilities, or even her true goal, so… this incriminating manifesto of mine, it's not meant for anyone's eyes except yours, Stendhal… Oh! I guess, you're going by Stain now, right?"

She laughed.

"Well, I just wanted you to get to know me―"

The camera was knocked over. It continued recording, however; the angle capturing nothing at first, except for the heavy thuds of footsteps. Then, another pair of feet entered the frame before leaving shortly.

She stomped her foot on the floor.

"Asshole!"

0.0

In that all-encompassing darkness in which he was the centre, Arisato Minato could feel no one, no presence, around him. He looked up briefly at the only source of light streaming in; a beam that shone directly above him.

It was instantaneous.

Something within him switched on.

Minato was painfully aware of how infinite his surroundings were; how small and insignificant his presence was as the centre. The inky darkness was like an ever encroaching parasite that began to consume him inch by inch ever so slowly. Every limb it consumed, it bound and restricted. If he struggled against its bonds, its vice-like grip deepened to the point that he saw white. It had crept up to his neck, his body remaining in his kneeled state, only because he could not fall over with it supporting him upright.

His vision was fading.

His head almost lowered to the ground, but a gloved hand, attached to a very pale forearm, gently lifted his chin up. She took his cheeks in both hands and smiled. Just like that, the pressure was gone.

_Oh my… this is no place for you to be. Whatever is my saviour doing here in a state like this?_

"Elizabeth…"

It was like he had been put under a spell.

She was just like he remembered―in his memories, in his dreams. The bewitching way in which she smiled was infectious, so much so that he mirrored it when he rested his head on her chest.

She was warm.

Alive.

However, that niggling voice in the back of his mind echoed that she was not. When she raised his head up, he made to protest; he didn't want to leave that warmth behind.

_Now, now… That is unbecoming of you, Minato-sama._

Elizabeth made it so that their foreheads touched.

_Why do you looked so surprised to see me? Did I not say that I would remain with you throughout your journey? You're still very much on it. Don't start taking me as a woman who breaks her oath._

Lost as he was in her eyes, he couldn't escape how much he missed it when she laughed―it was light, whimsical.

_I am never far away from you. You must remember that._

"Will you tell me why?"

_My brave and noble soul. How could I ever rest easy knowing that the man who tore off the veil over my cage was imprisoned for such a time until the embers of humanity extinguished? I was simply returning the favour._

She stood up, offering her hand.

_I know you're tired, but there are still people who need you. Will you join me, Minato-sama?_

He took it.

"I choose this fate of mine own free will."

The last thing he remembered was her smile.

0.0

It was too soon.

When Arisato Minato came to, it was to the sight of a mess of black hair. There was a odd mix of strawberries and gunpowder that lingered long after he took a breath. Above him, Momo's features were creased in worry. Her eyes, large and slanted like that of a cat, were moist.

He blinked.

It ended too soon.

"Minato-senpai!"

He thinned his lips and squeezed his eyes shut.

He needed to go back. To find out what that was. That couldn't have been a dream.

It was real.

It was definitely real.

He needed―

"Senpai!"

His eyes snapped open.

There were others hovering nervously around them―classmates of hers. He couldn't really tell, but he recognised a few faces from the Sports Festival broadcast. One of them, a boy with spiky ashy-blond hair, seemed livid.

"See, the loser's fine! C'mon! Just leave him already! We got better shit to do than watch this pussy shit play out!"

"But Snipe-sensei ordered us to remain here!"

"I don't give a shit! My mom's in the stands somewhere! I'm not gonna wait here and see if a Pro Hero cared enough to see that she's safe. It's a fucking zombie apocalypse out there!"

"I will not allow it! As your class representative―"

"Fuck being benched!"

Their infighting continued; raised voices shouting their defiance, quiet pleas that went unnoticed. The one thing that was missing was the calm voice of reason. In the chaos of it all, Momo held out a dead bee to him. There was a tiny vial attached to its stinger, almost indistinguishable to the naked eye.

That explained the itch on his neck.

"I found you unconscious―with this nearby. Whatever you were injected with may have caused your blackout." Momo looked away. "Don't ask me how I know this, but it made your tongue black."

She was doggedly avoiding his gaze.

On impulse, he grazed his tongue against the roof of his mouth. There was an odd taste in his mouth that wouldn't go away; a weird mix of metal and ash. Aside from an ear-splitting migraine, he couldn't find anything wrong with him physically. Strangely, the only thing that registered in his mind was that he was lying down on something soft.

"Am I lying down on your lap?"

Momo reddened and squirmed in place. "You had a really weak pulse. We couldn't be sure if you were even breathing at all. One thing led to another and Kyouka―" she levelled an exasperated look at one of her classmates; he couldn't turn his head to look at who, "It―It's complicated! It just ended up like this!"

Slowly, Minato sat up. "Thank you. It may have helped _…_ somewhat. _"_ He took stock of his surroundings and frowned at the squabbling group of underclassmen. "Could you tell me what happened?"

Her face fell.

"It's happening again. UA is under attack _,_ " Momo started, her voice shaky. "The villains _…_ They're targeting everyone―not just the Pro Heroes." She motioned to the dead bee by his side. "I believe it has something to do with this. We've seen civilians and Pro Heroes lose control of their Quirks―have it erode their mental faculties. We even had to subdue one of the upperclassmen who lost control."

Minato snuck a peek beyond her, spying a second-year Gen Ed student he recognised when he made his way into the stadium. The boy was lying spread eagle on his back, unconscious.

He put two and two together. "And his tongue was…"

She nodded.

"Did I attack anyone?"

"I can't say for sure. You were unconscious when I saw you," she said. "Do you remember anything? Before it happened?"

Unconsciously, Minato stared down at his hands. He remembered plenty.

_The fire that consumed his being before he blacked out._

_The suffocating claustraphobia of being trapped in that boundless black void._

_The warmth of her body, her touch._

_Her smile._

He himself almost smiled at the memory.

"Senpai?"

But he quickly forced it down. "Nothing much," he said.

"Then, what should we do, senpai? Snipe-sensei told us to wait here." Momo gripped the front of her uniform, looking hesitant. "But what good are we as heroes if we're not allowed to act? And those bees—we have to warn them about it, right?"

"I think," he said slowly, "that it's better to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission?"

Her eyes grew wide. "Senpai!"

"Just this once." Minato rolled his eyes. "Try not to make it a habit."

"I can't―It's not right!"

He held back a sigh. "Momo… I can't make up your mind for you. I can't tell you what to do either."

Minato was aware how callous his words were, so it came to no surprise that his underclassman visibly flinched and bowed her head, averting her gaze. Distractedly, he found himself on the receiving end of a simmering glare from a petite girl with a sharp bob, which was strange given how she stood at the opposite end of the corridor, nearer to her squabbling classmates―there was no way she could have overheard him. He brushed it off.

Instead, he leaned in closer to whisper by Momo's ear, "But you're not wrong."

"W-What?"

"What's the point of staying here while everything burns around you?" he asked. "That's not heroic. That's not who you are. And I know that for a fact. Momo, you―"

Momo leaned away from him, catching Minato by surprise. Her cheeks coloured a deep shade of red as she idly touched her earlobe. "S-Sorry," she said. "Your breath… It's ticklish."

He blinked. "Oh."

She bit her bottom lip. "But I understand where you're coming from," she said.

With a heavy breath, Momo closed her eyes and straightened herself. She held her hands close as a chaotic mass of energy pooled in her palms. Slowly, she spread them apart, the energy refining into an elongated shape that gradually dissipated as it emerged from the palm of her hand. In its place was an elegant wooden sword.

Minato accepted it with both hands.

"You mentioned that the bokken that you had was something cheap you picked up at a discount store." She rubbed at her arms, adding, "So, I may have spent a few days reading up on traditional swordsmithing. You'll like this better."

Lightweight. Perfectly balanced.

It was a gem.

"It's amazing," he told her.

"I don't deserve such praise." Despite her words, she looked pleased. But that quickly morphed into worry as she furrowed her brow. "You're not staying here either, are you?"

Standing, he shook his head.

"I suppose this is the part where I tell you that there is a fine line between heroism and just plain recklessness," she said. "We're not even sure what that serum did to you, senpai."

"Just a headache," he lied. "I'll walk it off."

Momo muttered something under her breath that he couldn't quite catch. Instead, she said to him plainly, "I know I can't stop you, but please _…_ I'd prefer it if you had some protection."

Without sparing a glance at her surroundings, Momo unzipped the top of her gym uniform down to her navel. Minato was treated to a generous view of his junior's branded sports bra before he had the forethought to look away.

"Yaomomo! You crazy exhibitionist! W-What―What are you doing?!"

"That guy is a God!"

If Momo could hear them, she chose to ignore their outbursts as she handed him a tactical vest. He bowed to show his appreciation, not trusting himself to speak.

Momo was unfazed either way as she zipped up.

"You're right, senpai," she said. "We were warned not to interfere, but that doesn't mean that we can't help in our own way. We can't turn a blind eye to those in need―not in our position."

Minato smiled gently, clasping her by the shoulder. "I believe in you." He pointed at the dead bee. "And you're right. You might be onto something―something that our teachers and the Pro Heroes need to know. I'll do what I can to warn others as well."

"Leave it to m―" Momo caught herself. "―to us," she corrected, as she spared a hopeful glance at her classmates. "Leave it to us, senpai."

0.0

"Disaster Level: RED. I repeat, Disaster Level is RED. All Pro Heroes are to subdue and contain!" There were too many voices shouting over the comms to make sense of the chaos, but one rang clear; Takeyama Yu couldn't tell who it was though. "We have reports that the aggressors are civilians dosed with the Quirk-enhancing drug, Trigger! No excessive force unless absolutely necessary!"

Yu clicked her tongue lowly.

"Mount Lady en-route to the festival grounds! Stadium's a mess!"

What was it about stadiums and windows? Specifically, where the hell were the windows?! She needed a quick exit!

It was the one good thing about her Quirk; being able to survive an eight-storey fall. Still, manoeuvring around the inner stadium proved to be a much harder prospect than she realised. Her cries to direct the mass of bodies around her were not bearing fruit. A Pro Hero be damned when there were ten of thousands of people bum-rushing for the exits. As she was, she couldn't see over the crowd.

It sucked being small.

She dove into another corridor, cursing under her breath. Thankfully, lady luck was granting her a reprieve. Lo and behold, her meandering finally took her to an open ledge that led directly outside.

"Yasss!" Yu shouted to the high heavens, then at the civilians, "Please step out of the way!"

She squeezed and shoved her way through the crowd, right to the ledge. The view that gave way was to a scene of utter bedlam.

There was little to separate what remained of the festival grounds with that of an actual war zone, and it had only been a scant few minutes since the disaster call sounded. Scores of Quirks lit up the sky like a moving canvas. When there were so many Quirks being used in tandem, the chaos eventually synced up; the whole greater than the sum of its parts. Those who had escaped the stadium were merely fanning the flames before her, like lambs being led to the slaughter.

"W-What do we do, Mount Lady?" someone had asked her.

Yu looked over the small crowd that had gathered around her, as if being in her presence was akin to a protective embrace. She wasn't one to smile and lie. She held her back straight, and tried to convey the strength and authority that could only come from a Pro Hero.

"The situation is bad. You can see it right there. There's no point in lying to any of you," Yu said. "But this is why we're here―to protect you. God knows that I'm not perfect, but I will do everything in my power to protect each and every single one of you. That I can promise."

Their fears weren't assuaged. There were more angry murmurs amongst the faceless crowd. Words were hardly enough, not at a time like this.

"What good is a promise?!"

Yu shook her head.

"It's a free-for-all outside the stadium. I can't, in good conscience, lead you all out there." She gestured to the rooms that lined the cramped corridor. "It'll be safer in here. I'd ask that you all hide inside and barricade anything you can find against the door. When this is all over, someone will come and lead you to safety."

"Please! There has to be something more you can do!"

"That's your plan? Screw this! Goddamn rookies like you are useless. Where's All Might or Endeavor when you need them?!"

Yu ignored the jibe and swallowed thickly; this wasn't the time nor the place to wallow in self-pity. "Rest assured… They're out there, trying to contain the situation."

"Then why are you here hiding?!"

"Sir, I'm not," Yu said, her words slow but terse. "Please, if all of you could just _cooperate_."

There were a few, families with children, who had branched away from the crowd. Some had listened thankfully, but there were more that didn't. By now, the group that had surrounded her resembled more of a mob than frightened civilians.

"We're better off looking out for ourselves! I'm not waiting for some rookie to swoop in and act like she saved the day!"

The stadium shook.

"Come in," the voice over the comms said. "We have confirmed reports that a known villain is approaching the school. Be on the lookout for Bo―"

Yu pulled out the comms device from her ear.

Some… _thing_ was lumbering towards them.

It was a grotesque mass of sludge that had taken on a vaguely humanoid form. It had no discernible features, save for the the random collection of waste that made up the bulk of its body. When it walked, parts of its jittery mass would slide off its misshapen frame, caking the ground in its noxious ooze. Its copious remains were enough to smother a man completely, such was its size.

"T-That's Bogi!… I've seen him on the news! Isn't he a villain based in Kyoto?!"

Yu bit the inside of her cheek.

If there ever was an indication that something bigger was at play here, the arrival of Kyoto's trash heap certainly heralded it in all its foul glory.

Bogi lurched to a standstill, raising an arm over its midsection. The sludge around it parted, regurgitating what appeared to be the tail end of a cement truck.

Her eyes went wide.

Yu didn't spare what remained of the mob another look; plenty had fled by now. "Go," was all Yu said to the stragglers before she jumped off the parapet. When she landed in a crouch, having activated her Quirk in mid-air, the ground quaked violently, more so than it did when Bogi first arrived. She stood up, smacking her fist into an open palm.

**"Hey, meathead!"**

The fight was on.

0.0

It was all too familiar.

Déjà vu crept in like an old friend.

Had he closed his eyes, Arisato Minato would have seen the reflection of an irradiated moon on glossy black and white tiles. The sickly moonlight would have peeked through the tall arched windows, casting long, spindly shadows of unseen enemies. But it wasn't to be. Instead, the ground beneath him was concrete, and all around him, pandemonium reigned.

The setting may have changed, but never the struggle.

He closed his eyes and reached for his well of power. In that all-encompassing darkness in which he was the centre, Minato summoned an angel; one that was rigid and unflinching in the pursuit of the righteous path. He called for a being who fought in the name of God.

None answered.

He asked for a warrior; one whose name was etched in the annals of history because of its renown in battle. He called for a being who would fight for his ideals.

None came.

He called for the personification of death; the one that dwelled within―one half of what made him whole.

There was a lowly growl.

Thanatos stood at the edge of the inky darkness, enough to sense that it was there, but never quite coming out into the light. It appeared for all but a moment before vanishing. Once more, he stood alone.

In reality, Minato jostled and jockeyed for space amongst the faceless crowd.

There was barely enough time to catch his breath when he emerged from the sports stadium unscathed.

He cursed lowly. There was little to do in dwelling on what had just happened. The collective unconscious had always answered his call, even in this world. The only reason why they didn't―or more likely couldn't―could only be due to the serum he had been injected with. If it directly affected Quirks, then its effects on him was unknown.

But hampered as he was, he still had his wits about him, and the reality of the situation took precedence.

He would not stand idle.

Unfortunately, he had come out to the festival grounds on a whim. He didn't have a concrete plan, or even one at all. The only thought he had was to link up with Yu again and relay the information he had about the attack. The one saving grace being that it wasn't all that difficult to find her in this chaotic spree.

Far above him, Yu was angling to fight the gigantic sludge villain whose name escaped him.

Minato followed after her gigantic footsteps as she stalked her adversary. From where he was, he could see that a number of Pro Heroes had banded together to intercept the villain; although their attempts weren't in any way effective in stopping it. They pulled a strategic retreat the moment Yu got close enough to mount an offensive.

As he was, Minato was hopelessly unable to keep up with Yu.

She had been able to cross the festival grounds unimpeded by virtue of her Quirk. He, instead, was immediately waylaid by a thick blanketing fog that had drifted in from parts unknown.

His sprint eventually gave way to a dead stop.

Dread seeped into his bones.

Minato was barely able to see more than ten steps ahead of him, much less the sky above. There was an eerie sense of isolation, where all he could hear were the muffled sounds of battle beyond the ever encompassing wall of white. He cautiously stalked forward, his weapon held at the ready. Inside that disorientating haze, he could sense someone running towards him, the fog seemingly amplifying the echo of rushing footfalls. It wasn't long before he came face-to-face with a frenzied charge.

Minato gripped his bokken, poised to strike. Yet, the look in the man's eyes, wide and delirious, stayed his hand. The man was injured and his clothes were bloodied to the point that it clung onto his skin like a wet napkin. He staggered past Minato, staring fearfully at something behind him.

_"Run…"_

That was all Minato heard him say.

An orb, thrumming with convulsing blue energy, came floating down towards his position. With a quick step forward and a forceful swing of his sword, Minato batted the offending orb into the air.

The resultant explosion consumed him.

Minato was blown back forcefully, impacting against the unyielding concrete as he scrambled to find purchase. When he finally rolled to a stop, sinking to his hands and knees, he stuck his chin to his chest as he tried, in vain, to take in that first shuddering breath; it had him gasping like a fish out of water.

That relief finally came.

With a violent choke, Minato spat out a glob of blood and hastily wiped it away with the back of his hand. It was still hard to breathe. Gingerly, he felt for his mid-section, underneath the body armour Momo had thankfully supplied, and winced as he felt a displaced bone.

The explosion had thankfully cleared away the fog in his immediate vicinity. However, in the midst of that chaos, before his very eyes, stood a child.

She was wearing an All Might hoodie of all things, the one with the adorable bunny ears. The outfit wasn't as cute when it was caked in grime and dried blood. She was staggering on her feet, dazed and shouting for someone; it was hard to hear above the high-pitched whine still ringing in his ears.

The girl finally collapsed and cried to the heavens.

"M-Mama!"

Another battle nearby had gotten out of hand. In the corner of his eyes, something―a food stall or what remained of it―came hurtling her way. For a split-second, a misstep actually had him reach for something that wasn't there; the evoker that he normally had holstered at his side. Unbidden by the consequences, something guided him forward.

Before he realised it, Minato was running full tilt, teeth gnashed together to push past his injuries. There was no time to curse his inadequacies. On unbalanced feet, he dove at the girl, cradling her in his arms tightly.

He would have been too late had someone else not intervened.

Something shot up from beneath the ground, smashing the debris into pieces. A teenage boy, roughly his age, landed with all the grace of a seasoned gymnast. It was telling because he had the physique to go along with it.

Although, it didn't explain why he was naked…

His blond-haired saviour flashed him a wide smile and a thumbs up. "Nice save there, bud. Back up a bit and keep her safe, would ya? This guy's kinda troublesome."

Without any further prompts, he melded back into the earth.

Hissing, Minato sat up slowly to check on his ward. The girl, who couldn't have been more than five years old, was crying into his vest, refusing to pull away. She was hurt, it was plain to see, but she was alive and responsive.

He counted his blessings.

"I can't find my m-mama."

Minato brushed the back of her head, shushing her. "I promise we'll find her," he said gently, rising to his feet. "What's your name?"

"A-Ami…" She huddled closer, trembling in his arms. "I'm scared, mister."

"Me too."

He meant it.

The alienness of being helpless had been lost on him ever since his first incursion into Tartarus―the maddening, winding construct of the Dark Hour. Back then, every floor he had climbed, each new persona that had presented itself before him, all the shadows that he had brought to heel, had engendered this feeling of invulnerability. Here, as limited as he was, Minato had truly learned his place in the natural order. He thought that he had made peace with the knowledge that his strength was no longer needed. Unfortunately, that wasn't true.

After all, what could a wooden sword do against the likes of these monsters?

Minato looked around.

Scratch that… He couldn't find his bokken anywhere.

In his arms, long ragged sobs wracked Ami's frail body. So Minato did the only thing he could think of. He held out his hand to her.

"Texas…"

In that brief moment, her anxiety melted away as she beat her tiny fist into his palm.

"S-Smash!"

There was the briefest hint of a smile, watery yet satisfied, but it was a first.

There was still hope.

0.0

Takeyama Yu wasn't a Pro Hero with the biggest repertoire of tricks.

In most situations, there wasn't a need for a twenty-metre tall woman with enough power to level a good portion of the city. That was why her costumed alter-ego was rarely considered for missions of a more subtle variety. Mount Lady fit a niche. She was the nuclear option. That was not to say she was reckless. Yu was well-aware of the stereotype the media and the general public had about her. However, incidental damage was still just that― _incidental_.

It wasn't entirely her fault. She was a victim of circumstance.

Whenever she was in her gigantified state, it was hard to reconcile the disparity in strength because to her, there wasn't much of a disconnect, both mentally and physically, between her two forms. It had something to do with… to do with…

_Science?_

To be fair, she was always better at the arts than science.

TL;DR. Smart people on the internet said that her strength underwent a proportional increase relative to her newfound size. Although, because the scales evened out in the end, that meant that her muscle memory didn't have to compensate for anything. As a puny human, a punch _could_ bruise. As a giant, a punch _could_ theoretically cause some extensive remodelling work because the roof had _somehow_ collapsed unto itself.

Theoretically, of course. That case was still in litigation.

Then, that online thread just derailed into another circle-jerk about how perky her breasts were. The fact of the matter was that she was unfairly represented in the media as a negligent miscreant and a total hussy―which she wasn't!

Small mercies for 24-hour news cycles.

Far below her, the other Pro Heroes had begun herding the evacuees away as best as they could. Squinting, she could make out Death Arms signalling to an area that ate into the forested section of the campus.

_Perfect…_

She could actually let loose in there.

Bogi was still unresponsive as she closed in, but caution prevailed when she noticed that the cement truck was now firmly lodged in its hand, positioned like a bastardised hammer with the two ends of the vehicle poking out.

**"I don't suppose you'd just surrender quietly?"**

Moving at a speed that belied its unnatural body, Bogi whipped his hammer-arm, the appendage snapping and elongating like rubber. He aimed a towering blow on the ground, where there were still civilians trying to flee the area. Yu moved before he could. Cocking her arm back, she delivered a rousing haymaker that should have knocked its head clean off.

It didn't.

Instead, her attack punched through the elastic surface like she was striking a body of water. It offered minor resistance and her arm sunk through until it reached her elbow. Unconsciously, her other hand snatched at Bogi's hammer arm. It had been dangerously close to hitting its mark, but Yu's timely intervention had its appendage bouncing like a yo-yo.

Its pliable body had a very clear weakness. It had no strength of its own; Bogi generated its energy from momentum. She, on the other hand, had muscles―taut, fit muscles. That and sheer force of will.

Heh, science…

_**"Move!"** _

With an almighty cry, she used her trapped arm as a leverage, spinning Bogi around to gain momentum. She did her best impression of an athlete at a discus throw event, tossing the villain well across the festival grounds and into the forested area of the campus. At the height of her throw, Yu deactivated her Quirk, shrinking down fast enough to dislodge her arm from its head, and thankfully, not being carried along with it.

Unfortunately, that meant that she was now free-falling from almost ten metres in the air.

"Fu―!"

See, there was a well-documented phenomenon called the Quirk Factor.

This came in two parts.

First was the Quirk itself. Second was all the biological doohickey that allowed the body to function normally―that was why you don't see someone like Endeavor being burned alive from the flames he manifested from his body.

Second was either a glaring weakness or a peculiar aspect to one's Quirk.

Regrettably, Yu's weakness was that her transformation was based on a directional basis, depending on where both of her feet were placed. If she activated her Quirk with both her feet on the solid footing, she'd grow 'up'; same for when she deactivated her Quirk, and she'd shrink 'down'. If she was ever transformed in mid-air or off balance, she would reshape from the 'middle'.

Quirks were funny like that.

"―uuuck!"

That got her stuck in her current predicament. If she transformed back where she was now, Yu would probably end up crushing all the little ant-people below her. Thankfully, the decision was made for her.

A spindly tree root grew up from the ground before her, almost like a magical beanstalk. Yu hastily took hold of it, sliding down and controlling the speed of her descent. She landed in a spectacular crouch, right in front of her fellow rookie, Nishiya Shinji.

The Pro Hero known as Kamui Woods allowed the wooden tendrils to retract back into his arm with a hardy ' _snap_ '.

Nonchalant, Yu dusted off the grime from her gloves. It did little to hide the fact that her skin had been burnt raw despite her gloves providing some additional protection.

Yu thought she hid the pain well.

"Meathead should have just stayed in Kyoto," she said, smirking. "City ain't big enough for the both of us, amirite?"

"Enough," Nishiya chided. He then gestured to the group of evacuees who were huddled together in an enormous makeshift wicker basket; the handle was thick enough that she'd be able to carry the basket in her enlarged form. It was actually rather ingenious of him.

"We've managed to set up a safe zone just outside the campus," Nishiya told her. "Help me transport these civilians there. They're our first priority."

"I'm not done with―"

Nishiya pointed at an airborne figure of Endeavor, who was rocketing towards Bogi's position. Even from afar, she could sense the scowl on Endeavor's face. "You'll only get in his way as you are. I won't be surprised if he burns down the whole forest with you in it if you decide to interfere."

Yu bit the inside of her cheek. Maybe a Disaster Level: RED wasn't the best time to think about keeping score―with Endeavor, of all people. "When you're right, you're right, Woodsy," she said, sighing. "I'll double back once I get this done. Oh, and do me a favour? Over there… You see that that really wide open ledge on the fourth floor of the stadium? There are some people hiding out there. I promised I'd look out for them. Could you go and check on them for me?"

"It will be done."

Nishiya offered Yu a solitary nod before swinging off.

Save for small pockets of skirmishes, in which she recognised a few familiar faces―thankfully none of which were Minato―the battle was slowly winding down. The majority of the Pro Heroes and even students of UA were now attending to the casualties.

It had barely lasted twenty minutes…

In that painfully short time, the loss of life would be crippling. Yu could scarcely imagine the blow back this incident would have on their credibility as Pro Heroes. The shame of her actions, and especially inactions, burned her heart. She had barely acted during the disaster. _Delayed_ ―because she chose to skive off her patrol on a childish whim. _Brash_ ―because she was riding a high after landing a hit on a well-established villain.

The 'what-ifs' plagued her mind.

She was barely heroic. She was just a girl play acting as one.

"Mount Lady?"

Still lost in a daze, Yu turned to regard the speaker.

It was an elderly woman who was supporting an injured man by the shoulders―her husband, she assumed. Without a second thought, she took hold of his other side, lessening the strain the woman was undoubtedly facing. She directed them to the transport-basket Nishiya had made, where there were still people climbing aboard.

"Thank you," the woman said softly. "Yet again, you've come to our aid."

"Sorry?"

"You saved us. We were directly underneath that villain's attack. Had it not been for you, we… we would have surely―"

Her husband cleared his throat. "I believe what my wife is trying to say is that Tokyo sure has some fine Pro Heroes," he continued for her. "All these heroes sprouting up in this city… Must be something in the tap water here in Tokyo, eh dear?"

"I, uh, I'm from Hokkaido, actually."

"You don't say?" The man looked surprised, saying, "We're from Okinawa ourselves. From one islander to another, can't thank you enough, 'Mountain Lady'. We came down here to pay our boy a visit. He teaches here, you know. Damn proud of him. Made use of what…"

Yu was only half-listening at that point.

No matter how much her conscience begged her to believe that some good had come out of her actions, that uncomfortable lump in her throat… Yu found it hard to swallow. The time for excuses were long past. She was a Pro Hero; paragon of justice and righteousness. She was held to a different standard once she took on the mantle.

One right didn't absolve her of her wrongs.

0.0

_"Aainnng! Watch out!"_

He did, which was why Arisato Minato ran sideways for cover. Ami screamed into his vest, and he was reminded that running with a five-year old in his arms wasn't how one avoided exacerbating an injury.

A bowling-ball shaped figure came barrelling past them, aimlessly knocking into whatever stood in its path of destruction. Each time the ball came into contact with something, it would ricochet, speeding up just a fraction more in a new direction and repeating the process.

An airborne girl, a UA student no less going by her uniform, was engaging the runaway human boulder. Whenever it came close to hitting someone, she'd rain down a spiralling beam of energy that would disrupt the triggered civilian, sending him out of harm's way.

The girl was visibly strained. Her big blue doe eyes were scrunched almost into slits. While she was not outright gasping, it was her long, lustrous hair that gave away just how exhausted she was. It seemed to have a mind of its own. The longer she used her Quirk, the tighter the twin-tailed ends would coil and uncoil into spirals.

"T-Togata! I'm losing steam!"

To the untrained eye, her attacks seemed almost reactive, but she was actually corralling him into a certain area. It was only when Minato saw further ahead that he understood why.

A pitfall trap.

Diving in, the girl fired another flurry; it lacked speed but her aim was dead to rights. She pinged the man in a one-two-three salvo, bouncing off one attack after the other and diverting him straight into the path of their trap. Almost like a tense pachinko round, the man swirled around the opening of the pitfall trap before eventually slotting in―almost like a lego piece.

With her work done, the girl visibly wilted and started drooping to the ground. It wasn't quite free-falling, but considering her half-comatose state, it would be a rough landing.

Minato was prepared. Jogging lightly, he shifted Ami to one side and tried his best to cushion the girl's landing with his free arm.

This time, he was beaten to the punch.

The very same blond boy who had saved them earlier cannoned himself out of the ground, materialising in a flash of yellow. He caught the girl in mid-air, swooping her in his arms, and landed dramatically on one knee.

Minato had his first real look at his saviour.

"Hey, it's you again," the teen said, smiling.

Tall and muscular, he had a very gentle façade that belied how visibly scarred he was. This was apparent, given how he remained naked. Minato was polite enough to point that out, as he covered Ami's eyes, and allowed the boy to hastily fix his state of undress.

It wasn't the greatest second impression.

"We seem to have a knack of showing up at the right place at the right time, huh? Introductions are a bit late, but the name's Togata Mirio." He pulled the dazed girl up onto his back and shifted her gently so that her head rested on his shoulders. "This is―"

"I'm tired," his passenger punctuated her statement with an audible yawn. "Night, night…"

She promptly conked out.

Mirio laughed lightly. "This is Hado Nejire," he said. "You two good?" Concerned, he did a double-take as he leaned in to examine Ami. "She's not too hurt, is she?"

Minato shook his head. The young girl in his arms scooched closer, burrowing her face in his chest. "Ami," he said simply. "We're looking for her mother."

"Ami, huh?"

Peeking at Mirio from the corner of her eyes, Ami nodded bashfully.

Mirio gave her a brilliant smile. "Well, little Ami! The three of us are heroes of UA. We won't stop at nothing until we find your mom! So don't you worry that little cute head of yours!" He turned to Minato, explaining, "Our best bet is to go to the safe zone just outside the campus. Most of the Pro Heroes have moved on to Search & Rescue, so it's a safe bet that we'll eventually find her mom there. What do you think?"

There was nothing he could do but silently agree. Although, his eyes lingered on Nejire.

"Is she all right?"

"Nah, she's fine. Hado's a trooper. She accidentally inhaled some kind of exhaustion vapour earlier in one of our fights. I'm surprised she lasted this long since some of the others were knocked out cold the moment they inhaled it." Mirio clucked his tongue. "Shame. I wish the two of you could have met under better circumstances." He gave Minato an odd look. "Didn't get your name by the way."

"Arisato Minato." Minato bowed slightly by way of an introduction, which was a stupid thing to do in hindsight as his injury flared up; he tried to keep it from showing.

There was an earnest look in Mirio's eyes as his new-found acquaintance regarded him. "Oh, cool. The rumours were true then. We do have someone new joining our class. Well, the way I see it, someone who throws himself head-first into danger to save people is a-okay in my books. You'll fit right in with the rest of us." Mirio barked out a laugh, motioning with his head. "Come on, let's make our way to the safe zone. I need to make sure Hado-san gets tucked in before I go back out there. Tamaki will have my hide if I don't."

"Shit…"

Tamaki.

His Tamaki.

In the heat of the moment, he had not given much thought to the well-being of his class representative. He looked back at the ruins of the festival grounds far to his right; there wasn't much left except for debris and the dying embers of a forgotten battlefield.

He hoped she was safe.

"Mister, you said a swear!"

Minato glanced at Ami, apologetic.

"Is something wrong, Minato-san?"

"I haven't found my friend. Black hair. Fair. Wearing a flowery yukata. When I left, she was manning our takoyaki stall at the festival grounds."

Sadly, Mirio shook his head. "I was there, in the thick of things. I'm not sure if this is a good sign, but I didn't notice anyone like that. I hope she got away safely. Do you want to look for her? I could take Ami and―"

The young girl tightened her grip on his arm, looking up at him with fearful eyes. He smiled thinly and patted her head to reassure her. "No, I made a promise," he said. "Let's go find her mother first."

0.0

In the centre of the makeshift triage centre, Takeyama Yu had never felt so lost.

And she had only been here for all of two minutes.

It was disorderly, but organised at the same time―if that even made sense. Medical personnel were bustling around the area, weaving in between patients and systematically categorising the level of attention needed. There were far too many civilians milling around. Cries of desperation and anguish seemed to blend together as they trawled the rows upon rows of bodies in the hopes of finding their loved ones. Most couldn't be separated away from the area.

This wasn't her first brush with death, but in the face of overwhelming anguish, Yu couldn't help but look away. It was such a raw emotion. It felt like she was intruding with merely her gaze.

As it was, someone bumped into her.

It was a woman; a first responder by the cut of her uniform. She looked harried, trembling hands loosely holding onto a marker as she wiped away a thin sheen of sweat that marred her forehead. "Please… You're in the way," she said offhandedly, not even sparing Yu another glance. Her voice sounded hollow. "If you need something to do, help with S&R. You're impeding our work."

Yu mustered a nod, saying quietly to the woman's back, "You got it."

It was selfish of her, she knew…

She knew, but she couldn't let go of the hope that she would find Minato here. It pained her that the last thing she remembered of him was his look of utter grief when she pushed him away. Maybe it was better that he wasn't here. It'd mean that he'd be safe, right?

Her question went unanswered in her mind.

"Where are you?"

_Duty first, Yu…_

With a heavy heart and another longing glimpse back, she headed for the exit, only to be impeded by a man, who called her over.

"Mount Lady," he said, his voice was soft yet firm.

The man was middle-aged, older even, going by the faint dusting of grey that lined his temples. He had bloodshot and swollen eyes. It made him appear haggard, like he hadn't slept in ages. He was cradling the hand of an unconscious woman, circling the ring on her finger.

The woman's face was bloodied, the visible parts of her body bruised with ugly purple welts. There was a 'P-2' hastily scribbled in red marker ink on the ground next to her head. Yu didn't know what it meant, but from what little she could glean, her breathing seemed normal despite how severe her injuries appeared to be.

Yu knelt down.

She hated this…

"Sir, how can I help?"

She hated dealing with family members in the aftermath.

His eyes were unfocused, mumbling, "I-I… lost track of my wife and daughter when we exited the stadium. We got separated, and I was herded here by another Pro Hero." He buried his face in his hands. "My wife was brought here after… like this… but I can't find my daughter anywhere. I tried to go back, but they barred the entrance." He took hold of her wrist, squeezing it as if it was a lifeline. "Please! She's only five years old! Please, you have to help me find her!"

Yu tried to brush him off gently. "Sir… Sir, I will, but I need you to calm down. I'll be part of the 'Search & Rescue' efforts. I'll make it my priority to find her. Do you, maybe, have a photo I could use?"

The man shook his head. "It's on my phone. I gave it to a personnel manning the entrance. He said he'd pass it to one of the Pro Heroes inside." He fumbled for the inside of his coat, pulling out a well-worn photo. It was small―small enough to fit inside a wallet. "This is the only photo I have left of her."

It was an old photo; the girl was still a baby, barely a few months old―gummy smile and all.

Yu hid a sigh. "This won't help, sir. What's her name? Maybe you could tell me what she looks like?"

"Ami. Her name's Akamine Ami. She has brown hair and eyes, just… just like my wife." The man stole a sideways glance, adding, "She was wearing her favourite All Might hoodie. The one with―"

Out of the corner of her eyes, a very familiar shade of blue drew her attention to the entrance. She almost smiled.

What were the odds?

"―bunny ears?" Yu finished for him. "Is that Ami, sir?"

The man followed her gaze and his eyes widened. He barely spared Yu a reply before he leapt to a running start, straight for the entrance. Yu followed him sedately, mindful of those still grieving around her.

"Ami!"

"Papa!"

There was a wave of emotions that flitted between father and daughter as Ami collapsed into her father's arms, bawling her little heart out. The man was no less composed, hugging her daughter tight in the crook of his neck as he whispered lowly into his daughter's ears.

Minato stood nearby, not wanting to intrude. She did the same. Their eyes met briefly, and Minato gave her the slightest nod of acknowledgement before being pulled into a conversation with Ami's father.

She caught the gist of it.

Minato downplayed his involvement, instead recounting the story of Ami's bravery. That was so like him. Despite being so reticent, Minato was surprisingly adept at handling such a sensitive situation. He had this unnatural ability to empathise, and when he talked, people just gravitated to him and listened. He even had this bland-looking kid nodding to his words. Whenever he bobbed his head, his whole body would move along with it; Yu was surprised the girl resting on his back didn't jolt awake.

"No words can express how grateful I am to you, Arisato-san, and you as well, Togata-san." The man was ever effusive in his praise, adding, "If there's ever anything I can do for the both of you, please just ask."

Yu caught how Minato's eyes drifted towards the rows upon rows of those grievously injured. It looked like he had wanted to say something then, but then decided otherwise. His reply was quiet, but no less meaningful:

"We couldn't impose," he said, bowing. "Please take care of your family, sir. That is all we could ask for."

The unflinching display of humility was not lost on the man. Steeling his features, Ami's father bowed low and deep.

"Thank you," was all he could say.

The medical personnel had swooped in by now, dithering over Ami and the unconscious girl that Lemillion was carrying. The blond boy gave his well-wishes before jetting off with the staff. Before Ami could be carried away, she pulled back, holding her fist out to Minato.

"Mister!"

Minato smiled lightly, walking over with his palm facing out. "Texas…"

"Smash!"

He closed his hand over her fist. "Be strong, Ami."

Ami gave the cutest little 'Hm!', her eyes moist but earnest, before they took her away to be examined. They were still within earshot when they heard Ami ask her father:

"Papa, where's mama?"

Minato's lips thinned into a line. He looked to her and understood well enough when she shook her head. Her intern closed his eyes and let out a tired breath. She took him in fully. His clothes were tattered. His face―smeared in grime and dried blood. There was a wet blotch that covered his side, the red stain indistinguishable from his navy happi coat.

He was hurt, but chose to not let it show.

"Go get yourself checked out," Yu told him. "That thing looks bad. I don't want it to get worse because you're stubborn."

"I'm fine." Minato spared her a glance. "You?"

"Don't be difficult and change the subject. _Go._ "

"Maybe later," he said dismissively. "I still need to talk to you―it's important. The first years found out something about the attack. It's―"

"The bees? Trigger victims having black tongues?" Yu pushed him by his shoulders, nudging him away from the entrance and towards the non-emergency station at the other end of the triage centre. "Yeah, I heard about it over the comms. UA's gonna turn on a massive bug zapper or something. Stop worrying so much. It's not your problem anymore."

Minato tried to double back. "Are you going back out? I'll come with. I need to find Tamaki. She might still be―"

"Minato," Yu said gently. "You need to stop." She took his hand. "Listen, we just started working together. There are times when I need you to listen to me―to trust me. _Please._ "

He stared down at her, features unreadable. A slow, mute nod followed.

"Thank you," she breathed.

And she meant it.

Yu reached up and patted his cheek, never quite noticing the height gap―in this form anyways. "You've done all you can today. I know you're worried about your friends, but you gotta leave that stuff to the pros. I'll go look for Tamaki. You sit tight and let these nice people fuss over you," she said, almost teasingly. "I'm not kidding, Minato. You really need to rest. Don't sneak out the moment I leave."

"I won't," he punctuated his promise with a yawn.

For a brief moment, before he could cover his mouth, she thought she saw a blackened tongue, like someone had smeared paint over it. Her eyes narrowed.

"Stick your tongue out, Minato."

Suddenly alert, he clammed his lips shut and mumbled, "Why?"

Minato tried to pull away when she got in close, but her grip remained firm. "Holy hell," she cursed lowly. "Were you stung? Did you 'Trigger'?"

"It's nothing serious."

She glared at him, saying, "Stop deflecting. Show me where you were stung. When did it happen?"

"I'm fine," he reiterated, too much like a broken record. When she didn't let go of his wrists, he said, "Just gave me a migraine."

It was such a bold-faced lie and he made it look so effortless.

Yu felt aggrieved.

She knew Minato had secrets. He was the type that played things close to the chest. Still, a small part of her thought that she had gotten through to him―even just a bit. With a little bit more force than necessary, she dragged him along the remaining distance to the non-emergency station. Surprisingly, he didn't put up much of a resistance.

Yu called for one of the medical personnel. "Hey, we have a Trigger case here. Could you give him a once-over real quick?"

The staff, a woman with red short-cropped hair, eyed Minato for all but a second before returning to her work, sorting through a pile of medical supplies. "You're standing. That's a good sign. Hurt anywhere else?"

"Broke a rib," Minato mumbled, shrugging. "Migraine too."

"Feeling light-headed? Shortness of breath? Does it hurt to breathe?" The woman walked over, pressing a hand lightly over his abdomen until she circled the spot where Minato kept wincing. "Your vest might have taken most of the impact. That's good―smart of you. Probably didn't hit anything major."

She motioned to a corner of the station, where there were more patients waiting. "Grab some water and take a seat. We'll get Recovery Girl to see to you shortly. That headache of yours will pass. Happens to some people after an adrenaline rush."

"What about him being 'Triggered'?" Yu asked.

The woman sighed, saying, "Sorry, no experience dealing with that. He says he's fine and he looks fine. I'll ask one of my colleagues and see what he thinks. That's honestly the best that I can do for a non-emergency case right now."

"Oh… All right, I guess. Thanks," Yu said. She turned to Minato, who looked like he wished to be anywhere else but here. "Listen, I gotta go back out there and help. It's gonna be a long day, but I still want to talk to you after. You have your phone with you?"

He nodded.

"Good… I'll update you when I find anything. I'll see you later."

For the second time today, Yu left her intern behind, though this time, she did get a small wave goodbye.

It was awkward. She hated awkward.

She intended to fix it.

0.0

It was in the wee hours of the morning.

The sounds of the shower―the steady trickle of water hitting the tiles of his bathroom floor―cut through the silence of his tiny sublet apartment. Yet, Arisato Minato was seated on his refurbished two-seater couch in his bedroom cum living space.

He wasn't quite sure how it ended up like this.

He fiddled with his phone, scrolling through his conversation with Tamaki. Thankfully, his class representative had avoided the worst of it. Although, it would have eased his worries sooner had they just exchanged numbers in the morning. It was a mistake he corrected then and there.

Inevitably, he doubled back to his chat history with Yu. He didn't have a lot of contacts―only two. There had been a lot of messages from Yu yesterday in one very brief window. It was a stretch of deleted entries, her asking him his whereabouts and a few choice words in between. In his defence, checking his phone was the last thing on his mind.

Their last exchange was barely twenty minutes ago. It read:

_**My Hot Boss:** _

_Hey, you up?_

_**Me:** _

_Yes_

_**My Hot Boss:** _

_Good… That's me knocking on your door. Open up_

_**Me:** _

_…_

_**My Hot Boss:** _

_C'mon. You don't want me standing outside your door all night, do you?_

_Minato… (sad face)_

_Minato!_

Minato relented eventually. Yu had arrived at his doorstep dressed in a simple dress shirt and cuffed jeans. With her, she carried a small overnight bag and a tall can of beer; the bag was a very telling indicator that she planned to crash here tonight.

He tried to close the door in her face.

Obviously, he failed.

She then commandeered his bathroom, citing that she was going to use his shower because she loathed having to go to a public bathhouse at this time of night. Apparently, her place didn't have a built-in shower.

With nothing else to do but wait, he switched on his antique CRT television. It had been a good deal despite being a near obsolete hunk of junk. He found it trawling in a second-hand goods store, like most of the furniture in his apartment.

There wasn't much on at three in the morning.

The various 24-hour news stations were still reporting on what was now sensationalised as 'UA's Massive Failure'. In such a short amount of time, the media had tore into the story with all the finesse of a sledgehammer. No one was spared; the school administrators, Pro Heroes, his fellow schoolmates and even the Trigger victims. Spliced with on-looker footage of the disaster, they had built upon that narrative purely on anecdotal evidence.

At the end of the day, more than a dozen people had died in the senseless tragedy, with hundreds more injured. The death toll was expected to rise over the next few days.

A body made its way to the empty seat next to him.

Yu had a towel draped over her head, methodically patting down her hair. The oversized t-shirt she wore had damp splotches that clung invitingly on her skin. He saw a hint of black shorts peeking out from beneath the hem of her t-shirt.

"See something you like?"

There wasn't as much sting as Yu would have normally put into her words. She must have been exhausted.

Minato didn't bother with a reply.

Yu popped open her drink and took a long sip. Her large violet eyes peered up at him from beneath the towel, asking, "You really wanna watch these idiots spewing shit they don't have a clue about? After the day we just had?"

He acquiesced, flipping through the channels. It was hard given how yesterday's disaster dominated the airwaves, but he eventually settled on one―an animal documentary.

Yu snorted into her drink. "Polar bears?" She stalled an impending argument, adding, "Relax… I never said I didn't like it. I like polars bears. Everyone likes polar bears."

The silence after lingered.

It made him restless. He was watching the show, yet couldn't keep track of what the narrator was saying. He must have been fidgeting in his seat, because Yu suddenly poked his leg with her feet.

"So uhm… Are you mad at me or something?"

Minato blinked. "Not at all."

Yu fiddled with the tab on her can. "That so? Must have been just me then. It's a bit hard to tell with you sometimes. Is… Is there anything on your mind? Anything you want to talk about, especially after what happened yesterday?"

"Not really."

"Ehhh, am I bothering you that much by being here? Sorry… Stupid me," Yu said, standing. The sheepish smile on her face looked forced. "I'll pack up my things and go. Should have just waited for tom―"

"I don't mind," he cut in. "You said you wanted to talk?"

She plopped back down on the couch. "Yeah, but you know… Saying I want to have a talk, and then actually having that talk is a pretty big jump for me, Minato. I'm not great at these things. You know that already."

"What about?"

"Us."

"I didn't realise there was a problem."

"There isn't, but I just want to know what you think about _us_ ―working together, the dynamics, and all that necessary hang ups." Yu sighed deeply, taking another swig of her drink. "I'm just worried, Minato. I've always worked alone. This is my first time working with someone, much less having to be the lead."

"You're doing fine, Yu."

"You don't need to mollycoddle me. I know there's a few things I have to work on. I didn't go to some fancy school to learn how to be a Pro Hero. When I was your age, I interned at a farm, herding cows. I hated every single second that I was there, except the cows… They were good cows."

Minato covered a smile at the image. "Seriously?"

Yu attacked him with her legs.

"Don't laugh at me!" she said, huffing. "There weren't a lot of schools in Hokkaido that were willing to take in a student with a gigantification Quirk like mine. What I learned, I learned on my own. Everything I've accomplished, I've accomplished on my own. I thought you were the same," she pressed on quietly. "I thought it'd be easier working with you than some wet behind the ears firstie, or some straight-arrowed senior."

"What made you think that?"

Yu sat up straight and quirked a delicate eyebrow. "Because you were a vigilante? Before I set you straight with my womanly charms?"

"Not a vigilante. Never been one… except for that one time."

"Bullshit!"

"Why would I lie?"

"To save your scrawny little butt maybe," Yu said. "I dunno. I get this feeling that you know more than you let on, like with your Quirk." The look she gave him was coy, silently egging him to speak.

Minato saw two possible avenues.

One: Deny it. Doing this could fracture the trust between him and Yu. After all, the woman had showed up at his doorstep at three in the morning. He'd find it hard to believe that Yu would ever let it go.

Two: Just tell her; enough to placate her at least.

"I know what it is, but I can't use it fully," Minato said.

"I _knew_ it!" Yu kicked out at the air happily, grinning. "So you do have a Quirk?"

_No._

"I have powers, yes."

Yu had inched closer, resting on her knees, towards him. "So, so… what is it? Don't keep me hanging, Minato. I thought you were a precog at first, but guess I was wrong. It's gotta be a combat Quirk. I've seen you fight twice and each time you pulled out something different."

"I'm adaptable."

Yu visibly deflated, staring at him through half-lidded eyes. "You gonna explain what that means?" She aimed a flick at his forehead, brushing his fringe aside. "Or do you get off on being mysterious all the time?"

He swatted at her hand. "It's hard to explain."

"Try me."

He sighed, saying, "I'm able to harness different… _manifestations_ depending on the situation."

"You're some kind of funky mind summoner?"

"It would be easier to show you. But I can't. Not fully. I'm missing something."

"So by that you mean you have like some kind of mental block that's preventing you from using it fully? Is there anything I can do to help?"

Minato shook his head. "I require a medium. It's hard to describe what it does, but…"

"But what?"

"I have to… accept death."

Yu blinked dumbly. "What the butt, edgelord?"

Subconsciously, he leaned away from her. "You wanted to know."

"Well, sorry. I mean it, honestly… But you came straight out of left field there! I'm not exactly sure what to say. I mean, it's not like I don't believe you, but it just got _dark_ all of a sudden!"

"I'm going to bed," he said.

"No~~ No~~ Minato… Don't be like that, please! I'm grateful that you trust me enough to share that much with me!" Yu whined, tugging him back by his wrist. "This is the first time I ever got you to 'talk' 'talk! I don't think you're lying. It's just a lot for me to process. Is that why you never told anyone about your Quirk?"

"Brings about more questions that I don't feel comfortable answering."

"What are you gonna do?"

"I struggled yesterday. That drug messed with my powers. It made me realise I need to get back where I was. I'll find a way. There has to be."

"Shit, I can't believe that you actually got stung by one of those bees. Still, it's kinda strange that you didn't 'Trigger' like the rest of 'em; maybe it had something to do with your mental block?" Yu told him. "You're okay now?"

"Recovery Girl gave me the all clear. Just need to take it easy for a few days."

"That's good. To tell you the truth, I'm not happy with myself yesterday either. I feel crummy. Didn't give a good account of what a real pro should act like." She leaned back down, hanging her head over the headrest. Her violet eyes bore into the ceiling, and Minato could see them water just a bit. "I told myself that I'd learn from it. Be better than I was. That sounds a bit messed up, right? Me using a tragedy like this as a life lesson."

"When you fall short, it's natural to regret what you did or didn't do."

"Hindsight, huh?"

"You have a good heart. So be better, Yu. You still have a chance and the choice to act on it."

Yu covered her forehead with her forearm, turning closer to him. She smiled―it was a small but sincere one. "I really lucked out with you, Minato."

Minato gave her a non-committal hum and stood up.

"When a girl confesses her heart to you, you don't just go 'hn' and walk away, dummy. Learn to read the mood."

"I'm tired. You can take the futon. I'll use the couch."

Yu brought her legs up and occupied the space he just vacated. It wasn't a particularly long two-seater, so her feet dangled over the armrest. She stretched and yawned lazily, bringing her hands well above her head. In doing so, he caught a peek of the shorts hidden beneath her t-shirt.

It was anything but accidental.

"I'm crashing here, Minato. I can't take your bed. Besides, I'm used to sleeping on couches, so here's good."

Not seeing the need to argue, he threw her a pillow. A muffled 'thanks' followed, as she buried her face in it.

"Mind switching off the lights?"

Minato was already on it before she prompted him.

"Thanks. Night, night, Minato."

"Goodnight."

"Don't make it weird or anything."

Minato snorted, which elicited a small muted laugh from Yu. Letting his head fall back on his pillow, the only thought running in his mind as he closed his eyes was:

It had been a long, long day.

That night, his sleep was plagued by visions of a white-haired girl with amber eyes.

* * *

_Page of Swords_

* * *

__

* * *

_Page of Swords_

* * *


	4. IV

0.0

_Civility._

The hallmark of the Japanese identity. It was something indoctrinated from birth, imbued into every Japanese son and daughter—at home, in school and society at large. As a people, they were famed for it. Yet, under the guise of anonymity, people allowed that mask to slip, baring the ugly nature they were repressing.

With a tiny smile, Hachisuka Kuin scrolled through comments section of the news article she had been reading. Going its course, the train rattled from side-to-side as her body swayed along with the motions.

Kuin held onto the railings tighter.

It was all too easy to stir the bubbling cauldron. Simmering beneath the surface, an underlying sense of disaffection was brewing between the general public and its nation's heroes. By nature, people craved their humdrum routine, but day-to-day life in this modern age was anything but. When stepping out of one's door meant spinning the roulette wheel of fate, it wasn't hard to feel disenfranchised.

Society had dictated the Pro Heroes to be its shield. However, a well-aimed strike had been enough to bring them to their heel. It may not have pierced the jugular, but the latest tragedy had irreparably wounded it, tarnishing the rose-tinted lens in which the public viewed their heroes.

Kuin suppressed a shiver that ran through the length of her spine. She may not have been the mastermind yesterday, but she had played her part to aplomb.

"Uh, Kuin… Why are you smiling so much?"

Kuin blinked—with her good eye. With a simple tap and a swipe, she closed the offending news article and brought up another page. Kuin held out her phone to her 'friends'.

"Cat video," she said simply.

Her companions cooed.

When Japan mourned, they mourned as one. It was hard to see past the general stoic expression of those around her in the passenger cabin, but no one was smiling. Despite the unspeakable tragedy that happened just yesterday, life had a way of moving on—at its usual monotone pace.

"Gotta find a way to keep yourself sane," Kuin said, shrugging.

She felt her phone vibrate in her hand and pulled it back sharply. A notification popped up at the top of the screen. The sender was unknown and the short-hand text it displayed was a garbled mess of random characters.

Oh, ho…

"Is something wrong?" one of them had asked.

Kuin gave her a dearth look, explaining, "It's work. They want me to come in. Boss says we're pretty short-handed 'cuz of what happened yesterday. I know I promised we'd hang out, but I really hafta go."

"You always bail on us whenever we make plans."

Kuin flashed a dimple-inducing smile; a look she had perfected in the mirror. "Sorry, Mari. It's not like I'm doing it on purpose. I can't let the boss down, you know? I really like this job. I can't lose it."

Chastised, the other girl ducked her head down. "A-Ah, is it because of… what happened to your dad?"

Her heart skipped a beat.

"I…" she tried to say, but her mouth was chalk dry. Unconsciously, Kuin licked her lips. She quirked her head, and gave her companions a sad smile. "Well, yeah sorta." She laughed, her companions joining in awkwardly. For a brief moment, she caught her smiling reflection in the glass. The image had twisted into an unnerving mimicry of herself.

It was good.

Smiling was good. It belied the turmoil churning in her chest.

The train slowed to a stop.

"Ah, this is me," Kuin said, waving. "I'll catch up with you girls when I can!"

Kuin barely caught their reply as she exited the passenger cabin and onto the platform proper. Eyes glued to her phone, she rattled off a quick reply to the unknown number, agreeing to the meet.

Kuin sighed.

Being a villain was tough on its own; having to lead a double life as a normal high school girl on top of it was killer. She giggled to herself, drawing a few curious stares to her.

A part-time villain.

It was strangely apt.

0.0

"Thirty seconds, Arisato. Go get hydrated," Takahara told him. "Who'd thought that a bean sprout like you could last for so long?"

With a strangled breath, Arisato Minato dumped himself down on the bench. He reached for the bottle near him, not quite falling over on his side, as he took small but quick gulps of water. He levelled a look at Takahara, unable to muster a glare at the man's words. Minato had cycled through spar after spar without rest. Takahara had called it a stamina circuit. His latest bout with the man had left him floored. Takahara certainly was tenacious, he'd give him that.

Still, it was the distraction he needed after such a strange day.

When Minato woke up this morning, Yu was nowhere to be seen. A cursory check of his phone detailed a message of thanks and a not-so-succinct _'I got stuff I need to do today, so let's meet soon'_.

Yu hadn't replied him since.

Whether UA's decision to give its students leave to recuperate from yesterday's tragedy alluded to trouble brewing in the administration… Well, Minato had no clue. However, after puttering around his apartment for half a day, he came to a rather obvious conclusion. He needed something to keep his mind busy. Thankfully, he had found exactly that at Takahara's kobudō training hall.

"Yao-chan, stop dawdling."

On the other side of the room was his next opponent.

Her hand glided over the weapons' rack, slender fingers gently caressing the length of each weapon. Every so often, they'd find purchase on a hilt, but she'd glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes, as if gauging his reaction.

Each time, he'd simply shrug.

She finally made her choice, drawing a bo staff from the weapons' rack.

Taking a final sip of his water, he wiped away the excess that dribbled down his chin. He placed his bokken to one side before taking a similar weapon and facing his opponent on the practice mat.

Minato breathed deep and hard.

"Changing it up, I see. Don't think I've ever seen Arisato using a staff before," Takahara said. The man stood on the boundary of the practice area, halfway in between them. He was pensive. "Yao-chan, I assume you've had some training?"

Across from him, Momo had her weapon tucked underneath her arm as she adjusted her padded gloves back onto her bare hand. She gave Takahara a solitary nod before settling the protective face-guard over her head.

Momo had been subdued today and it showed in their spars.

"And you, Arisato?"

He shrugged.

Takahara sighed, mumbling, "Such talkative students I have today." He made a motion with his hands, bringing them together. "Bow," he said sharply. "Begin!"

The moment he righted himself from his bow, Minato felt the presence of a being enter his mind. The feeling of contentment flooded him, only soon to be replaced the rushing high of an impending battle. Memories of a life not his own came to him; it was a life full of strife. Throughout those battles, there was but three constants; his weapon, carved from the great and terrible behemoth, Coinchenn, his companion and charioteer, Láeg, and his horses, Liath Macha and Dub Sainglend.

Just as Cu Chulainn lived in battle, he died.

The staff Minato held in his hands was certainly no Gáe Bulg, but his persona had willed that he treat it as such; the Hound of Ulster would have nothing less. Unconsciously, he twirled the weapon around him, switching the staff seamlessly from hand to hand before settling it in a reverse grip on his right.

With a sigh, Minato forcibly returned Cu Chulainn to the sea of souls. It would be dishonourable to face Momo aided by the unnatural ability of the legendary Irish warrior.

Like Takahara had said, powers had no place in his dojo.

Momo herself had yet to move. Instead, she shifted her body sideways, presenting a leaner profile; her staff held defensively at a downward angle. Through the tiny slits of her face-guard, he could see her large black eyes, cagey yet determined.

In response, Minato stalked forward.

He traced her from top to bottom, sussing out a weakness in her stance. Occasionally, he'd strike out with his staff, probing at an opening. His feints were stonewalled. That was all the warning he had.

Instincts guided him as Minato jerked his head back, narrowly avoiding the first swipe aimed for his neck. With a quick twist, he chopped at the back of her wrist, which went unanswered as Momo retreated.

"Yao-chan," he heard Takahara say. "Push on."

She didn't need another prompt.

Momo surged forward and ducked low. She pivoted, slashing the staff in a full circle at his feet.

Minato lazily hopped over it. Her attack wasn't the fastest; it was a poor choice given how unwieldy the staff was. It would have been all too easy to counter. Had he succumbed to a vicious streak, he could have stepped on her staff and snapped it in two, ending the fight there and then. Instead, he stepped back. Takahara would have reamed into him for being passive had he been fighting the man, but Momo…

She froze.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Takahara open his mouth. Minato wordlessly shook his head, warning the man off. Surprisingly, Takahara acquiesced.

Minato came at her, faster this time, thrusting his staff forward like a spear. Her grip on her weapon was loose, so much so that he almost knocked it off on the first try, but she parried it―barely. However, with each deflection, he carried through the motion, circling around his underclassman and raining down an onslaught.

She had no answer.

Minato slowed to a stop, lowering his weapon down by his arms. "We're done. Call the match, Takahara-san."

The slight had the desired effect.

It must have been borne out of desperation, but the normally reserved girl lashed out with her weapon, aiming it at his head. There was a meaty clatter as Minato sidestepped the attack and received her staff with his own, forcing their weapons into a deadlock.

Through her visor, a mortifying look came over her features. "S-Senpai! I didn't mean to… I apologi—"

Her grip loosened.

Momo's distraction would prove costly, and Minato intended to punish her for it. With a simple dip of his forearms, he mimicked the motions of a circle, disentangling their weapons, and in a quick motion, thrust his staff forward at her helmet.

It was scary how flexible his underclassman was.

Momo arched her back like a seasoned gymnast. Minato couldn't help but admire her form as his angled attack seemed to follow the curve of her body, meeting nothing but empty air. With a forceful kick, his weapon was pushed upwards. The girl created space by pirouetting backwards, with her staff planted firmly on the ground. She was breathing deeply, but with the experience no doubt borne out of practice, flowed back to a rigid stance with her weapon held at the ready.

"We're even," Minato said simply. "Would you like to continue?"

It was hard to mistake the fervour in her eyes.

0.0

Everything about this room was stifling.

Cold, sterile walls.

Nondescript steel furniture.

A two-way mirror that she pointedly tried not to stare at.

Then again, Takeyama Yu didn't expect an interrogation room to be the most inviting of places in the National Police Agency Headquarters. It didn't help that the room was unnaturally cold. Combine that with the fact that she was seated on a steel chair with only a layer of skin-tight spandex separating the unyielding surface and her precious behind…

Well, Yu couldn't help but fidget in her seat. Besides, staying stock still only reminded herself that fidgeting was an option. That only made her fidget more, which made her butt feel colder.

"That's it!"

The chair screeched against the tiled flooring as she stood up, glaring at the mirror in what could only described as pure unadulterated hate.

"Will someone—"

That was when the door to the interrogation room swung open. A humanoid cat, one of the Japanese Bobtail breed, nonchalantly walked in with his nose buried in a stack of documents. "Takeyama, it may be almost four in the afternoon," he said, without looking up at Yu. "But considering the day that I had, it is still far too early for your special brand of crazy."

"Kaneko," Yu hissed. "Turn the goddamn heat up!"

The cat, Kaneko, gave her a quick once-over before turning back to his reading. "The whole building is on centralised heating, so can't do much for you there. You should really consider not wearing spandex as a costume. Also…" he pointed at the badge slung around his neck, "I made rank two weeks ago, so that's Detective Kaneko to you."

"Congrats," Yu muttered lazily as she plopped back down on her seat. "You're finally at a pay grade where you can actually do something about those clothes of yours."

"Now, now… Being a little less snide to your interviewer is generally the courteous thing to do. Besides, girls go crazy for the whole rugged detective look. They think that they're in some cop drama or something."

"Oh, I bet they do."

"You're my fourth interview today, Takeyama. Give me a break. They're throwing all the grunt work to the rookie detective just when the PSC starts requesting for 'additional resources'."

"That bad?"

"I should be the one asking you that. You were the one on scene. I've just been sitting behind a desk trying to wade through this bureaucratic mess for the past eighteen hours straight."

"No wonder you look like shit, Kaneko."

" _De-tec-tive._ " Kaneko pointed at his badge again and stressed, "You look like shit, _Detective_ Kaneko. Now… Let's start."

He pulled out a voice recorder and pushed a button on the side panel. "Detective Kaneko Jun. The time of this recording is three fifty-six p.m. on the fifteenth of May. I'm acting as an independent enquirer on behalf of the Public Safety Commission, henceforth referred to as PSC. This is my after action review with one of the Pro Heroes who attended to the Mass Trigger Incident at UA. Could you state your identity for the record, ma'am?"

Drawing herself up higher on her seat, Yu answered, "Mount Lady."

"Thank you. Mount Lady was part of the protective detail assigned to the UA Sports Festival. In your own words, could you describe the events prior to the start of the conflict."

She nodded.

"During the Sports Festival, I was grouped together with Kamui Woods and Death Arms as one of the external teams assigned by PSC to the event. We arrived early in the morning and were subsequently briefed by both Principal Nezu and Hound Dog. We were then assigned to specific quadrants, with Death Arms and I charged with taking the festival grounds outside the stadium. Due to his manoeuvrability, Kamui Woods was tasked to roam the surrounding area. Up until the incident, there was nothing suspicious of note. However… However, I—"

"Something you'd like to add?"

Yu steeled herself. "I abandoned my quadrant. Roughly ten minutes prior, I accompanied a student to the stadium. I was inside, near the competitors' area, when the first alert was raised."

Kaneko jotted down something on his notepad. "And what is your relationship with this student?"

"Does it matter? He has nothing to do with it."

Kaneko drew up a document from his folder, and Yu caught a glimpse of a passport-sized photo of a blue-haired boy atop the page. Her heart caught in her throat.

"Arisato Minato, correct? A third-year student. He was recently assigned to your office as part of his workplace training. Transferred to UA at the start of the school year and was scheduled to be transferred over to the Department of Heroics after the Sports Festival."

"Why do you have all that?"

Kaneko was unfazed as he replied, "I'm just being thorough. Could you run through your actions after?"

Yu had half a mind to press the issue. However, there wasn't a point; not when it was clear that Minato had done nothing wrong. Besides, she trusted Kaneko. "I tried to get out of the stadium. _Tried._ It was chaos. People could barely hear me, much less see me in there. I searched around, found an open ledge and jumped out."

"And that was when the villain, Bogi, started his approach towards the stadium?"

"Yes. We tussled for a bit. I managed to overpower him briefly and ended up throwing him into the woods. Endeavour was the one that subdued him in the end. Did they find out why a villain from Kyoto decided to muck around in Tokyo?"

"Investigations are on-going," he explained glibly. "I saw the footage of your battle. They had it plastered up all over the news. You came out very well. There were talks of a citation."

"I don't deserve one."

Kaneko reached for his voice recorder and put it on pause. The humanoid cat shook his head wearily.

"I've been around the block long enough, Takeyama. One thing I realised is that heroic citations aren't meant for the heroes; they're for the public. Whether or not you think you deserve one isn't up to you. Pro Heroes are public figures. If PSC believes that parading you around with a medal around your neck will make the masses happy, well…"

"Yeah, I know," she muttered. "I'm gonna get a parade."

"Exactly. Public support is important for them. It helps to keep them funded when it comes time for the federal budget. And since we're off-record, I will say this: you messed up, Takeyama. You know that well enough. You weren't where you were supposed to be. It doesn't matter if you were just a hundred metres away. Time is crucial when you're forced to play catch-up. That's dereliction of duty, plain and simple. This is going into my report."

Yu couldn't bear to meet his gaze, but she forced herself to. "I understand. I won't dispute it."

"As to whether PSC will publicly penalise you is another matter. Chances are you'll be blacklisted for a while—they'll disregard you for placements in team-ups and assignments."

"That sounds underwhelming," Yu said, but the relief in her voice was obvious. "I was kinda paranoid enough to think that they were going to take Minato away from me, or God forbid, suspend my license."

"Doubt it. Their image is in the shitter. I don't think they want air out any dirty laundry in this aftermath; that will only fuel the narrative that this was a catastrophic failure. They had more than fifty Pro Heroes, not to mention All Might and Endeavour, in attendance for the Sports Festival. Yet, they couldn't get a handle on the situation until it was far too late."

"We were hampered, Kaneko. There were more heroes in attendance to watch the festival than actually guarding it."

"I'm not trying to assign blame," Kaneko said. "The NPA are equally at fault. We've allowed this Trigger epidemic to continue unimpeded. All of it—the drugs, villains, our collective inaction—have led to this disaster being the terrible tragedy that it was."

"Everything is easier in hindsight, huh?" Yu asked, blowing out a tired breath. "I feel like I just had this conversation yesterday."

"It is," Kaneko said, serious. "The only hope is that we take concrete actions to never allow a tragedy like this to ever happen again. There's been talk lately of discuss passing stricter laws on drug trafficking and widening the parameters of policing powers for narcotic offences."

"It sounds like a step in the right direction."

"Only if it passes. That raid in Nakano was our largest into this Trigger syndicate and we're still not making a significant dent in their supply chain. For every Trigger supplier we arrest, more keep sprouting up. The Commissioner General is already in the midst of setting up a special task force. I'm pushing for a slot."

Yu leaned in closer. Inevitably, Kaneko did the same. "I was working on something prior to this," she said quietly. "It might be something, might be nothing too, but if it's concrete, will you back me up?"

Kaneko's features hardened. "You're a Pro Hero, Takeyama, not some undercover agent."

Yu ignored the slight and smiled a wry half-smile. "Let me help. I know you guys are swamped. If it's hinky, I'll come straight to you." She held up a hand. "I promise."

"I don't like it."

Yu thinned her lips, saying, "You've known me for pretty much my whole career, Kaneko—as short as it is. You know I'm serious about what I do. I'm not just a twenty-metre tall wrecking ball that breaks down buildings; I can be more than that." Her eyes were large and pleading. "Let me have this chance to get something right."

The cat was silent.

"You're setting down a path I've seen people take one too many time. You're angry," Kaneko said. When Yu tried to rebut, he stopped her. "You're angry because of your inactions, and you believe that there is still a wrong that you must personally right."

"It's not like that," she mumbled. "I just wanted to help."

"Cooler heads must prevail, Takeyama. No one doubts your ability or willingness, but any more of this, and your judgement will be called into question." He gave her an unreadable look. "Ultimately, I have no say over your actions. I can't tell you not to do it, but think about what consequences your actions may bring."

He reached for his voice recorder. "We've sidetracked too much. Let's continue with the interview."

At that point, Yu could only bite her tongue and nod, because her stomach wasn't the only thing churning.

0.0

"Curry rice?"

Arisato Minato stopped to look at the shop window. There were a variety of food replicas on display, some more appetizing than others. His companion appeared indecisive. Momo puffed her cheeks from side to side as she gave the limited offering a quick glance, before turning back to look down the narrow shopping street they had just passed.

"Something else?" Minato followed her line of sight—to an eatery he had overlooked. "Soba?"

Her eyes practically lit up. "Do you mind? I haven't had soba in ages."

Minato shook his head in reply.

Together, they made their way back to the hole-in-the-wall soba restaurant in relative silence. The two were greeted warmly by the staff upon entering and were directed to an empty section of the counter right by the entrance, overlooking the length of the galley kitchen.

"I just realised," Momo said. She didn't turn to look at him. Instead, her gaze lingered on the kitchen staff going about their food preparation. "I know we have lunch together occasionally, but this is the first time we're spending time together outside of school and the dojo."

"Our first dinner," he said. "I wonder what took so long."

"We were busy, I suppose. You always had to rush off for work after our practice sessions, and I had my household matters to attend to. There just wasn't time for dinner."

Offhandedly, he replied, "We should make time. You can decide where we'll go next."

"Really?"

"If you wish."

Momo's eyes lit up, her excitement bleeding off her form so much that he could practically imagine her eyes shining brighter than even the most polished of diamonds. "Definitely. There's this amazing restaurant we should try. The wait list is more than six months long, but my mother is friends with the executive chef; I'm sure she could get us a table."

"Momo, I may not be able to stretch my meal allowance that far."

She blinked, far too much like an owl. "We could also try the Prince Curry Palace down the street. It's the companionship that matters most—less so the food."

Minato smiled at his underclassman. "Exactly."

It wasn't long after that their orders arrived. Just as he was about to dig in, he noticed that Momo was fidgeting in her seat, biting at her utensil.

"How do you do it, senpai?" she asked him suddenly. "Compartmentalise, I mean. After everything that happened yesterday, you look so normal. I can't get over how forced it feels for me to act like nothing is wrong."

"Did you sleep at all last night?"

"Not a wink." Momo smiled a rueful smile. Then, she asked quietly, "Do you remember what we talked about before—when I was at the USJ?" At his nod, she continued, "I was terrified. Beyond terrified. Not just for myself, but for my classmates and our teachers as well. But it was simpler. Back then, it was about survival—our survival. Yesterday was—It was…" she closed her eyes, her voice barely came out as a whisper, "We came across a few of the casualties… And there was nothing we could do to help them."

"I see…"

Minato was pensive. It took a few seconds before he found his voice:

"Death is… It's not something you can compartmentalise that easily," he finally said. "You don't get used to it. At least, you shouldn't. Once you do…" _It becomes a part of you._ "You lose the part of you that's human." _One part of what makes you whole._ "It's normal to be affected by it, even if it's someone you didn't know."

Momo was picking at her tempura, big black eyes downcast. "It's strange… I shared the same with my mother last night. The first thing she told me was that she was sorry I went through such a harrowing ordeal." She shook her head absently. "I know she was trying to comfort me, but to apologise to _me_ when someone else had passed? It felt so disingenuous. But you, senpai… It's different with you. You're honest with your thoughts, at least when you want to share it. That's why I wanted your opinion."

He quirked an eyebrow at her small jibe. "You're overthinking it," he told her plainly. "Dying, death, all of it… It isn't the easiest topic to talk about, especially with children."

She made a face, sulking. "I'm only two years younger than you."

"I didn't mean it that way. It's not even about your actual age. She's your mother. Deep down, she sees the need to protect you from anything bad. And I think she knows that's going to harder and harder as you grow older—given your aspirations. Protecting you may be out of her reach. If it already hasn't, then soon. Maybe that's what she was apologising for."

"Oh…"

"Then again, I could just be overthinking it like you," he said, shrugging. "Do you mind?" he asked her. "Telling me about it?"

Momo was hesitant at first, but relented, "After you left, my classmates were still arguing over what we should do. I tried putting a word in, but Bakugo was, well… Bakugo and Iida was Iida. I'm sorry if that doesn't make sense, but—"

"Bakugo is the intense shouty kid?"

She almost smiled at his description. "Yes, one of them. I'm not sure if you remember, but Iida is the one with the glasses." She made a motion with her hand, miming her adjusting a pair of spectacles over her eyes. "He's very much like me, but to borrow your description, more _'intense'_. He'd much rather jump off a cliff than ask for forgiveness after the fact."

He hid a snort. "So permission first?" he asked. "What happened then?"

"Bakugo ran off." She sighed restlessly. "More than a few of my classmates went after him; some to help, others to try and drag him back. Even Iida went, much to my surprise."

"But not you?"

She shook her head. "No… I knew there were more pressing concerns. One—the 'Trigger Bees'. Two—the stampede. In a sold-out stadium that could seat well over twenty-thousand attendees, that kind of crowd density and all that chaos… The casualties would have eclipsed those affected by the Trigger outbreak. Without all the infighting, it was easier to convince those that stayed. There were even others from 1-B that offered to help. We split up into groups, each with an objective in mind—mine was to find a teacher or a Pro Hero and relay the information we had about the bees.

"But we were too late to do anything. By the time we came across a teacher, Ectoplasm-sensei told us that the Pro Heroes were aware of the threat; they were already in the midst of planning a means to counteract them. They were two steps ahead of us the whole time, and I was none the wiser—a fool."

"You couldn't have known," Minato chided. "You can't account for everything."

"B-But to have it all amount to nothing?"

"It wasn't nothing. You're being too hard on yourself. If you view your actions solely in the lens of its results, then that's a fallacy. To me, your intent, as well as your actions, matters most."

Momo sniffed lightly. "The best intentions pave the way to Hell," she intoned, as it she were recalling it verbatim from a textbook.

In response, he poked a finger into her arm—with a little more force than necessary. "Now, you're needlessly nitpicking. That's not what I meant, and you know that."

"My apologies," she said blithely, rubbing at her arm.

"I'd tell you again that you're being too hard on yourself, but I'd just be repeating myself," he said. "Is… Is there a reason why you place such a huge burden of expectation on yourself?"

Momo hung her head down. "W-Well, I've been thinking a lot lately, about the kind of Pro Hero I aspire to be—when I was young and as I am now," she said slowly, uncertain.

"And that is?"

"You must understand. I am aware of my circumstances as compared to my peers. I've had a very fortunate and comfortable upbringing. I did not want for anything. I was afforded the best education. All because there are certain… _expectations_ that is required of me when I become of age."

Momo was hesitant, clearly choosing her words carefully.

"A-As such, I was naturally expected to to excel, which I did… for as far back as I could remember. I couldn't place when I realised it, but it had always been building inside of me—this constant fear of failure that had been driving me forward. It created issues, even during elementary school, but it was towards the end of my junior high that it became more prevalent.

"I hated being placed on a pedestal," she said, her voice quiet. "I dreaded attending UA. I couldn't stand the notion of prolonging this ordeal for three more years." She leaned back and glanced upwards, for once an earnest smile reaching her lips. "Thankfully, I was wrong."

"What changed?"

"I did—because of everyone in 1-A and because of you."

"You're giving me too much credit. We've only known each other for a month. Short of our practice sessions and lunches, I don't see how I could have done that."

"I could never beat you," Momo said plainly. "In all fifty-three bouts we've had, not once was I able to knock you off your feet."

"It was practice. There are rules, handicaps. If you used your Quirk—"

"I'm not the only one fighting with a handicap, am I?"

He thinned his lips into a line, not willing to press the issue. "Your point?"

"I was prideful—too sure of my abilities in spite of my Quirk that it would be enough to overcome a senior from the Department of General Education. In truth, I looked down on you, senpai—that was until you crushed me without so much as breaking a sweat in our first bout. It was a bitter pill to swallow; to know that I had been wallowing in self-pity because of a misguided belief I had propagated all my life. Failing was cathartic. It was a relief. Each time I returned to the dojo and faced you, I felt a sense of accomplishment. I was one step closer. Failing slowly became an afterthought. It would simply serve as a means to overcome an impossible obstacle.

"I told myself that I could no longer allow the fear of failing to impede me. Yet, during the attack on the festival, that fear crept back in—because for once I understood what it meant should I fail, instead of all those childish notions that I had built up in my head. Failure didn't mean a wounded pride or dropping out of a tournament. Had I failed, made a misstep, someone could have died, and it terrified me."

She was quiet.

"Listen, that fear," Minato said into the lingering silence, "it can be a good thing to hold onto. It's not something that goes away. No sane person can rid themselves of that doubt. But the opposite is just as dangerous."

"When someone doesn't think of the consequences?"

He nodded slowly. "It's a fine line to cross. Action versus inaction. Recklessness and passiveness. The Pro Heroes out there, they're not perfect. No one is. Choices have to be made—hard ones. Not all of them will turn out in their favour."

"But—"

He reached over and patted her hand, silencing her. "Momo… What you did mattered to someone that day. Never doubt that. You don't start off by saving the world. Start with that one person. That ideal that you've built in your head—don't stop reaching for it. It's hard to see it now, but you'll be a great hero—one day."

Momo let out a muted sigh and mustered a small smile. "Perhaps you're right, senpai." She took a moment to compose herself, straightening in her seat, and proceeded to take a big bite of her vegetable tempura.

Minato did the same.

"It's good…"

Not seeing the need to speak, Momo simply nodded.

"My turn for lunch this week."

She nodded again.

"Any preference?"

"Onigiri would be nice."

The companionable silence lingered until…

"Senpai?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

Minato returned her thanks with a smile.

0.0

As her saviour whirred to life, slowly distilling the life-sustaining elixir in tiny droplets, Kayama Nemuri heaved a sigh of relief.

One of the few perks about being a teacher at UA was that as a faculty member, one was never a few steps away from an espresso machine. The bad thing was that they had to share, and Kan was getting awfully testy behind her.

It wasn't her fault that she brought her thermal mug.

"Thank you all for attending this meeting," Nezu said, climbing up its bolster seat to take its place on the table. "I know it's been a tiring day, and I appreciate your patience in the matter. My earlier meeting ran later than expected."

"So how did it go?" Nemuri asked, now on her fourth capsule. Kan had by now vacated his position in line behind her and begrudgingly settled for tea.

Nezu motioned to itself. "I'm here, am I not?" it said, not at all concerned. "However, concessions were made; concessions that I do not entirely agree with."

"Vultures," Cementoss said. "Vultures dressed in the guise of men."

"What agenda was being bandied around this time?" Snipe asked.

"They were discussing the need for better security, for better protection measures within the school that exists… outside of our jurisdiction." Nezu held up its paw to forestall any rebuttals. "It's been agreed—in part, not fully. Failure, repeated at that, cannot go unanswered. We cannot allow to be seen doing nothing in the face of such a tragedy."

"To say that we are doing nothing is an exaggeration," Ectoplasm said. "I've worked with Hound Dog and Power Loader both to update the gaps in our system. The carrier bees that were allowed entry were an anomaly; Power Loader has rendered extensive anatomical profiles to distinguish between natural and unnatural organisms."

"Anything unnatural will be flagged and activate our emergency defences," Power Loader droned.

"It's the perception of doing nothing," Kan said. "Besides, it doesn't protect us if our enemies are already inside the school. If the League of Villains found a way, there's a possibility that others would too."

"Mannn~~" Yamada said. "I know we gotta keep it a hundred, but this day won't ever end if we continue nitpicking every possible scenario the villains might think up."

"Speaking of which," Nemuri interjected. "Any leads so far, All Might?"

All Might, looking worse for wear, shook his head. Nemuri could only imagine what was going through his head right now. "According to Tsukauchi, no one has claimed responsibility for the attack. The only commonality the police have found is that these carrier bees were present in a number of Trigger-related incidents throughout Kanto, but nowhere else. No matches were found in the Quirk Registry database either."

"It's likely a cell operating in the region," Aizawa offered.

"That is the current assumption."

"As it is," Nezu said. "It is quite obvious now that no one individual is behind these attacks, and we cannot further discount this new unknown element acting against us in the future."

"What do you propose?" Cementoss asked.

Nezu folded its paw atop the other. "It may sound counter-intuitive given that the recent attacks have occurred within our walls, but we cannot allow the students to feel unsafe attending school. That is why I've handed in a proposal for UA to transition to an all-boarding school system."

"Bwah?"

Nemuri, who was in the midst of sipping from her thermal mug, stopped. Similar reactions were replayed across the table, some more delayed than others. Before them, Nezu's pleasant smiled never wavered.

"Oh God," Kan murmured, massaging his temples. "This is where I die."

"UA is to be a testbed to trial this new initiative," Nezu explained. "If the outcome is… favourable, it is likely that other schools in the country may adopt the same approach. In return, security bots manufactured by I-IS will be deployed to guard the campus. This is what I meant by concessions being made."

"The I-IS?" Yamada asked. " Sounds fancy."

"I-Island Security," Snipe answered on Nezu's behalf, his tone was unusually severe. "Boss, are you sure? To be wholly reliant on a system like this is foolhardy."

"It is not ideal, but it is the only way forward we have."

"Bah! Those security bots won't last the week," Power Loader said. "Hatsume will see to it personally. Don't be surprised if you notice more than a few go missing."

"That being said, Majima," Nezu piped up. "Those bots are being delivered on-site as we speak. I understand most, if not all, of you have been working through the night, but I will require everyone's assistance to integrate—"

"Ah, hell…" Nemuri heard Kan mutter.

The man was already making a beeline for the espresso machine.

0.0

"Follow me, Queen."

Hachisuka Kuin promptly fell in line behind her contact—the villain knows as Nemoto Shin. "Strange place for a meet, Doc," she said, smiling at his broad back. "I know a cemetery is supposed to be secluded, but it's hard to break the image that you have some kind of fetish for dead people—what with how you look and all."

Her contact didn't break his stride. Neither did he visibly react to her words; his current state of dress didn't allow her to see it eitherway.

Nemoto wore a black, loose-fitting cloak, paired with a tall derby hat that hid the shape of his head. Fixed over his face was a plague doctor's mask. Its eyes were jutted out like circular discs, and Kuin was unable to peer beyond the inky darkness that lay within.

In response, he replied, "You know my name. Address me as such."

"Got'cha, Nemoto-san."

Kuin looked around, noting the once familiar surroundings. There were more tombstones—even more unfamiliar names marked in red and white. She remembered a few of them. At least, she thought she did. Time had a way with messing with those memories. She had been here often in her youth, and the path Nemoto was leading her towards was one well-travelled.

"Uh, why are we here?"

"To pay our respects to the dead."

Kuin frowned, saying, "Hey, look… This mysterious shtick is wearing thin. You found out who I am, I'm guessing? We're here to visit my father's grave, aren't we?"

Nemoto remained quiet, so she walked ahead of him.

"Awesome. Is this where you try and strong-arm me into doing your bidding? You know it's pointless, right? I'm just in it for the money, which incidentally," she made a motion with her hand, "gimme…"

He brushed past her, unmindful of her words, and stopped before a tombstone.

"Hachisuka Touma. Proctor the vigilante."

Kuin sighed, clinching her brow wearily. "Can we not do this, please?"

"Seven years ago, Proctor misidentified and engaged a suspected villain. In the ensuing struggle, the suspect sustained irreparable damage to his brain. He was left in a comatose state, which he remains in, to this date."

"What's with the lengthy exposition?" Kuin grumbled, looking around. "I know all this."

"As it turned out, the man was innocent; he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, and just so happened to come across an over-eager vigilante. It made public news. Wrought with guilt, your father unmasked himself—"

"Are you monologuing?"

"—and surrendered himself to the police."

"Oh God, you are."

"In the end, he committed—"

"The coward killed himself," Kuin gnashed out. "Gods, what do you want me to say? That it ruined our family? It did. We couldn't escape his name, much less what he did." She sighed and mashed a palm over her eye-patch. **"** So please… you think you know my life because you pieced a part of it together? You don't—so don't act like you do."

Nemoto remained motionless.

"You overstep yourself, Kuin."

"Well, sorry I had to ruin your fun. I thought this was going to be a performance appraisal; didn't expect to traipse down a shitty memory lane." She shrugged, saying, "In my defence, I'm normally quite polite."

Nemoto reached inside his cloak and pulled out a manila envelope. He threw it at the ground in front of her.

" _Rude…_ " Kuin muttered under her breath as she reached for it.

"We remain pleased with your work—attitude notwithstanding. The observations that you have provided to us were… enlightening. Overhaul has seen fit to reward you."

She pressed the manila envelope between her hands. "This does feel kinda _thick_."

"The latest incident has hastened our timeline. With each iteration of Trigger, we move a step closer to our endgame. Your discretion and ability is highly regarded. It is only natural that your role in this grows, as does the responsibility and expectations Overhaul will demand of you."

"I dunno where you're going with this, but FYI, I prefer freelancing. Besides, I'm not a big fan of dragon tattoos."

"Do not delude yourself, girl. You are but a tool that my young master tolerates," Nemoto said dully. "Beyond that, how goes your other assignment?"

"Not great," Kuin blurted out inadvertently. She winced. "Fuck… I hate it when you do that."

"Explain."

"You know how he gets. Stain can be a… _prickly one._ "

0.0

"W-What is this?"

Akaguro Chizome dragged the serrated edge of his survival knife against the walls of the narrow alley. In the enclosed environment, it screeched painfully, like nails on a chalkboard.

What does it mean to be a hero?

A hero was courageous and selfless. A hero lived by their values and would risk life and limb to protect it. A hero was viewed as the paragon of the human spirit; someone who did extraordinary deeds for the sake of others.

As a boy, Chizome grew up idolising that very ideal—All Might.

However, in this age, that definition had changed.

A hero was respected for their costume. A hero was a profession, governed by bureaucrats and funded by tax dollars. A hero was a brand, cultivated by the individual for personal gain.

"Do…"

Heroism and hero worship were two sides of the same coin.

Chizome had grown to despise that bastardisation. Pro Heroes had chipped away at the foundations that All Might had painstakingly built. As Stendhal the vigilante, he had taken it upon himself to rid the world of sinners; those who would erroneously wield their power without conviction. He had no qualms about killing. The end justified the means, and evil would never again taint the lives of the innocent.

"Your…"

Society, however, had labelled him a villain. With that backlash arose complications.

His disillusionment with the reality of heroics only grew worse. He faced down heroes whom actively pursued him; there were plenty who lusted for the fame and recognition. However, by impeding his life's work, they allowed the sickness to fester, and the only thing necessary for evil to triumph was for good men to do nothing.

"Worst…"

It was like switch had flipped within him.

Just as All Might stood for the very ideology he cherished, Chizome would stand alongside All Might—on the opposite end of the divide. For him, it was the ultimate act of self-sacrifice. In doing so, he discarded the mask he had worn as Stendhal and donned a new one.

"Scum…"

The villain known as Stain.

All that remained in the end…

Stain stood over his quarry.

He unsheathed his katana and angled it vertically, letting the sharp edge rest against the hero's neck. "And the world will slowly learn." When Stain spoke, his voice was raspy from disuse. He smiled widely, letting his unnaturally long tongue hang loose.

And violently stabbed downwards.

0.0

The knocks on his door were haphazard, hurried. The feminine voice beyond it was familiar, if a bit slurred, calling out his name in a 'sing-songy' tone.

Blearily, on uneven feet, Arisato Minato crossed the threshold of his modest apartment and threw the front door open. It proved to be a bad idea as his visitor had been using it as a perch, and he bore the full weight of her person upon him.

He was not proud that he let out an unmanly ' _hurgh_ ' and fell to the ground with her.

"Mi-chan, can I crash," Yu hiccuped, and Minato leaned away from her breath, "at your place again?"

"How much did you drink?"

She booped him on the nose and giggled.

Minato sighed before allowing his head to thump meatily against the wooden tiles of his hallway.

* * *

_Pentacles (II)_

* * *

* * *

_Pentacles (II)_

* * *


	5. V

0.0

"Yu…"

Takeyama Yu felt someone nudge her arm. In response, she retreated deeper into the blanket and dug her head under her pillow. That small act only served to remind her of the sharp ache throbbing in the back of her skull. Yu squeezed her eyes shut and whined mutely.

"I'm going to school. There's onigiri in the fridge. I also bought you vitamin water. Drink it."

Blearily, she peeked at the shadow looming over her.

"Keys are on the table," the person said plainly. "Lock up when you're leaving. Oh… I kept your stuff in the closet."

"'mm'kay," she mumbled.

The voice sighed.

Yu heard more rummaging in the background, which was followed by a hollow clatter.

"Aspirin is next to the keys."

"You da best, Minato."

Yu only dared to move once she heard the door to the apartment close behind him. With a heavy heart and a heavy everything else, she willed herself to an upright position, her hand finding purchase on the wooden tiles to support her weight. It was hard to leave the unimaginable comforts of the futon she had apparently stolen; every fibre of her being begged her to sink back under the covers.

Unfortunately, directly opposite her was a full-length mirror.

Catching her current state of self only made her groan into her hands. "You suck," she told herself. "You suck so much right now." She was sure that her reflection was nodding along to her words.

This was beyond mortifying.

She'd make it up to him later. Fishing for her phone, which had conveniently been relocated beside her—fully charged to boot—Yu rattled off a quick text to Minato.

_**Me:** _

_Owe you big time… (sweat drop)_

_You'll prolly learn about it in school, but_ _we're gonna have a thing together in the afternoons from now on…_ _So I'll be waiting for you once you're done with classes_

_Let's do lunch_

His reply wasn't immediate, but she waited patiently for one, seeing that he had appeared online right after she sent it.

_**Mount Laddie:** _

_K_

Minato promptly went offline.

" _K?!_ " she said, incredulous.

Yu flopped back down onto his futon and groaned for the umpteenth time this morning. "Rock bottom, Yu." She patted the quilted covers, adding, "Sure feels nice though…"

0.0

The door to the faculty's office slid open even before Arisato Minato had the forethought to knock. Tired blue eyes blinked slowly at him. He blinked back. The woman with long spiky purple hair readjusted the folders in her arms and tapped her temple absently.

He bowed in greeting. "Good morning, Midnight-sensei."

"Morning, Arisato-kun," Midnight said pleasantly. "It totally slipped my mind that we had a meeting. I forgot to mention that there's been a change in schedule this morning. We're having a school assembly in lieu of our homeroom period, so I'm afraid we don't have time to rush for our meeting right now."

He nodded by way of understanding. "I'll take my leave first, sensei."

"None of that now. I tell all my little slaves to use my given name when we're in school." Her smile was earnest when she said, "You're officially one of mine now, Arisato-kun. So call me Kayama-sensei."

His ears twitched. Had he misheard?

"Of course."

He made to walk ahead.

"Don't run off just yet. I wouldn't mind some company along the way." With that, his new homeroom teacher escorted him down the corridor, towards the school's P.E. grounds. "How are you feeling, Arisato-kun? I heard you were injured during the incident."

"It was nothing serious. Recovery Girl said I just needed to rest."

"That's good. Sorry, I didn't come around and visit. The last two days have been somewhat hectic." At his questioning look, Kayama explained, "It's the normal procedure we have whenever our students are injured, especially in an official capacity."

"I see… How are things here in school?"

"Terrible."

His eyebrows rose at her honesty.

"You kids are anything but sheltered," she said. "While I understand it's not part of the General Education's curriculum, being aware of the current political climate comes with the territory of attending a school like UA. It's not hard to infer the backlash our dear Principal Nezu is facing."

That would explain the sudden appearance of those autonomous security bots running around campus. On his way into the main building, he had been accosted by one, although it had merely scanned him before shuttling away.

"Will he be asked to step down?"

"Nezu still has some pull, so don't worry about him. Let the grown ups handle the political infighting. You kids just need to focus on your studies. That goes double for you, Arisato-kun. You've been given a lot of leeway to be able to transfer during the semester. So please don't abuse the faith we've shown you."

"I won't," Minato said. "Is that why you called for a meeting?"

"Part of it. I've ironed out your personal schedule for the rest of the semester, but there's quite a bit more that I need to discuss with you personally." Kayama handed him his timetable. "This will be a crash course in Heroics unlike anything we've done here in UA."

Minato inwardly winced when he gave his schedule a once-over.

"Normally, the curriculum for third-year students is quite lax," Kayama explained. "We still have a few mandatory subjects that are held here in school, but in your third year, the focus shifts to field work assessments with the various Pro Hero agencies."

Minato gestured at the uniform block that had been highlighted on his schedule. "Is this my field work for this term?"

On and off, his field work was a solid six-hour stretch that had been set aside in the afternoon; some of it had even replaced his regular allotted classes, meaning that he only had to attend school in the morning.

"Yes, your learning will be officially supervised by Mount Lady's agency. Well, partly. Yours is a special case, Arisato-kun. Given that you've missed pretty much all the foundation classes that underpins our Heroics programme, Principal Nezu has deemed it fit to… _improvise_. So while the rest of your peers are going through their own internships, you'll be doubling down by participating in supplementary classes with your juniors, on top of the internship duties Mount Lady requires of you. Of course, we still need to finalise your provisional license requirements with the Public Safety Commission."

His mind spun like a broken record.

"Supplementary classes with my juniors?"

"You'll be joining their classes here and there." Kayama shrugged, adding, "Like I said, it's a crash course. No one ever said it was easy becoming a Pro Hero, much less having to do it in under a year. I naturally assumed you have masochistic tendencies."

He was blinking. "I don't."

"Far be it from me to judge. Maybe you're into humiliation-play or getting trussed up and spanked by schoolgirls."

A lot now.

"No—"

She continued on regardless, grinning wildly, "You're an adult now. I accept all my students regardless of their sexual proclivities. I just want you to know that I'll be there with you every step of the way, just watching and getting of—"

"It's the old hag!"

"Morning, Kayama…"

His homeroom teacher turned to the interlopers, her manic smile having died in her mouth. She produced a whip and snapped it at a familiar face—one he recognised as Hado Nejire—snaring it around her modest frame.

"Who the hell," Kayama hissed dangerously, yanking the whip back, "are you calling an old hag?"

The blue-haired girl was pulled forward, zipping towards them as if she was weightless. At the last second, Nejire released a spiralling wave of energy from the soles of her feet and did an intricate sequence of flips and twists in mid-air to slow her momentum.

"Yahallo, sensei!" she chirped happily, now floating aimlessly around them like an oversized balloon. "Yahallo, Arisato!"

Minato could only muster a wave in reply.

The other girl who had been accompanying Nejire joined their awkward circle; the other students still streaming in were giving them a wide berth. She was petite, with short cropped hair that framed her small face. Despite wearing the school's uniform, she had styled it and herself appropriately. It was hard to describe her look; almost like a rebel that stayed within the rules, given the tiny dash of black that lined her monolid eyes.

"Hey, new guy… Haya Yuyu," she introduced herself simply.

Minato bowed in return. "Arisato Minato."

"You kids were a lot more respectful before puberty struck. It all went to shit in your second year," Kayama grumbled stiffly, undoing her hold over Nejire. "Anyway, it's good that you two know each other. Arisato-kun, I'm leaving you in the capable hands of our class representative, Hado Nejire. She'll be helping you to get settled in class."

That was all Minato heard before he was immediately beset by his new class representative.

Nejire had gotten uncomfortably close, so close that their noses were almost touching. She then leaned her head against his and draped his hair against hers. "Yuyu, do you think this shade of blue will look nice on me?"

Minato wasn't sure if he welcomed this new change of pace. Then again, out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Kayama give him a saucy wink as she left.

Maybe it wasn't as bad…

"Not really, no," Yuyu said. "Nejire, he's freaking out."

She regarded him for an instant before taking hold of his wrist. "Let's go find the rest." At the drop of a hat, Nejire switched gears and pulled him along with her. He didn't object. "Ne, ne, Arisato… Can I ask you something? Are you listening? I heard that you don't have a Quirk. How could you not have a Quirk and be a hero at the same time? Isn't that hard?"

"I do have one," Minato answered. "I just don't know what it is."

"Ehhh~~?" Nejire quirked her head to the side and pressed a finger to her lips. "That's so strange. How can you know that you have a Quirk without knowing what it is?" Angling her body, she peeked around him, spying the plain utility bag he was carrying. "What's that?"

"It's a bokken."

"Is that what you use to fight? Are you secretly a samurai? A ninja?"

"Yes, and… Yes."

Nejire clasped her hands together and laughed. "Nin, nin!"

"Please don't encourage her," Yuyu said.

"Hado! Haya! Over here!" He saw Mirio step out from the crowd and wave them over. "You brought Minato-san with you! That's great!" It wasn't long before he was engulfed in another group huddle, courtesy of Mirio.

"Ossu! Introductions are in order." Mirio slapped the back of the black-haired youth next to him. It looked for all the world that his friend would rather be anywhere else than here. "Minato-san, this is Amajiki Tamaki. Tamaki, this is our new classmate, Arisato Mina—"

Collectively, they all stopped and stared as Amajiki scuttled away to the school building and planted his head against a pillar, his back towards them. Thankfully, being in their third-year, their cohort was situated closer to the school rather than in the middle of the pack; although it was still a fair distance away.

Yuyu hummed under her breath. "That wasn't unexpected."

"Ah, my apologies, Minato-san."

Nejire had taken it upon herself to explain, raising a finger, "Amajiki may act like a chicken-hearted person, but did you know he's one of the strongest students here in UA? That's so strange, right? Heroes are meant to be like _whoaaa~~_ but he's all _ughhh~~_ "

"Please don't take it personally," Mirio said. "Tamaki's just a little shy. It takes time for him to warm up to new faces."

"I understand," Minato said. "It's not an issue."

"Oiii, Togata! Why are you hogging the new guy all for yourself?"

Peering around the taller teen, Minato saw a myriad of new faces smiling back at him. Seeing the need for another introduction, Mirio had put him front and centre, only to stop suddenly.

There was a notable hush as the tiny mammalian form of their principal took to the stage. Flanked before him were the various faculty members, their features stern.

"Students, please settle down," Nezu said, its voice projected over the school's PA system. It coughed primly and settled a paw behind its back. "It was not that long ago that I stood at this very stage, passing you our well-wishes for the coming semester. Now, look around you.

"Did your eyes linger over an empty space? Is there a familiar face missing? I want you all to remember that sense of loss. That is exactly what your teachers and I are feeling at this very moment. In the last month alone, we have suffered not one, but two senseless tragedies within these very walls. As educators and the ones charged with your safety, we have failed you and humbly ask for your forgiveness."

As one, they bowed.

Angry murmurs broke out amongst the assembled students; there were more than its fair share pleading for them to lift their heads up. Around him, the mood was subdued. Their anger was reserved, yet still evident. Even the hyperactive Nejire had her head bowed.

"Ahhh, such remarkable students we have. Your sincerity has touched my heart," Nezu said finally, righting itself. "For some, this may seem as nothing more than a token apology. However, this is not a matter of our pride being slighted, but the sense of duty that we have towards each and every single one of you. Your parents, our society, even yourselves have entrusted your safety unto us. This is not something we take lightly."

Nezu begun to pace up and down the stage.

"Make no mistake. We have all taken the peace we have had for granted. In such trying times, it is natural to look towards the symbol that has endured through it all." It chuckled, saying, "No, it is not All Might alone. It is the men, the women, the cute furry rodents, and all the various walks of life that choose to stand together with him.

"A hero perseveres in battle only through the support he receives from those around him. UA represents this ideal down to its very essence. So look around you once more. Then, look inwards, and take my words to heart…"

Its tiny, beady gaze was far-searching.

"All of you here will be the ones to succeed us, to inherit our wisdom and lead us into the coming age. Armed with that knowledge, you must do better and be better. Do not be limited by the examples that we have set." Nezu raised its paw, holding it upright. "Break through those barriers! Go beyond! Plus— _"_

As one, their voices rose into a steady rumble that reverberated around the grounds, building into crescendo that sent a tiny shiver down Minato's spine.

The school roared its reply:

"— _Ultra!"_

Nezu brought down his paw and placed it over its heart. "I am truly heartened by your conviction. Let me then offer you these final words to consider: fur maintenance."

And again, as one, the school groaned.

Just like that, normalcy resumed.

"You see, in such uneven weather, it is a given that the sheen of one's fur begins to dull and lose its lustre. The question then remains: how does one maintain…"

So used to their principal's meanderings, the general chatter of those around him rose. Minato was unprepared however, when a body leaned against him. Mirio had clasped him by his shoulders, looking ahead.

"You're taking the first step of many, Minato-san!" he said brightly. "Welcome to Class 3-A!"

0.0

"Think of the impact—the implications—on yourselves, as students, future Pro Heroes, and as members of society," Kayama said. She looked up just as the school bell chimed.

Arisato Minato could only manage a quiet sigh of relief when it did. Some of his classes today had been an excruciating affair in catching up to the current syllable. He disliked World History. Having to suddenly take up Modern Hero Sociology after transferring departments was a whole other thing. It would have been worse had it not been for his new seating partner.

Strangely, despite coming off as an 'airhead', Nejire proved to be more than a pretty face. It would have been easy to misjudge her purely on that alone, but her boundless curiousity translated well into her studies.

"Class, stand~~ Bow~~"

Class 3-A intoned together, "Please get married soon, Kayama-sensei!"

Minato cut himself short and sat back down before anyone else. He blinked a few times to clear the fatigue from his eyes.

He must have misheard again.

The wooden ruler Kayama was carrying snapped in her hands. It went unnoticed. She stared blankly at them, which belied how much her hands were shaking. Her smile was strained as she said, "I'm super committed to my job."

The varying degrees of pity directed her way made Kayama wilt.

"It's hard to find a half-decent guy in this city who can cope with a career-driven woman like myself. Traditional gender roles are still hard to overcome at this day and age. T-The guys I meet are 'manboy' losers with bad haircuts!"

"Don't give up hope, sensei!" someone shouted from the back. "He's out there! Maybe lower your standards a bit!"

Kayama visibly deflated and made for the door.

Around him, his new classmates were preparing to leave. He could get the sense that despite the smiles and easy-going chatter buzzing around him, an undercurrent of tension went unsaid in the aftermath of the UA Sports Festival.

It showed in their eyes—in their demeanour.

From what Minato had been able to glean from Kayama-sensei's class, the National Diet were in the midst of discussing a proposal for an organisational restructure of the Pro Hero agencies across Japan.

This came as a result of an unrest that was unprecedented in the current 'All Might Era'. Villainy was on the rise, not just in terms of statistics, but the scale of their audacity and malevolence. Emboldened by that small spark, it had burned into a tiny ember, and what had carelessly been dismissed as inconsequential, had now roared into an incandescent wildfire.

This growing threat saw a greater need for Pro Heroes.

Most of the seniors in UA had already been called upon to assist with their respective agencies. A small number were even approved for an extended leave in view of their internship commitments. One, like the brash shark-human hybrid seated at the back of the class, would tour with a specialised Pro Hero team patrolling the waters of the Sea of Japan.

The teen, Tomoyuki Dan, or… 'Sharknado' as he had adamantly asked Minato to refer to him as, was in the throes of a boisterous farewell with their class representative.

"Wanna bro it out?"

Nejire's face froze into an 'O'. "Let's~~" she said happily, punching her knuckles into the other.

"Aragaki! Help us out!"

"C-Coming!"

Another boy in uniform rushed over. He was mousy, almost child-like in stature, with short brown hair that covered his forehead in messy clumps. His eyes, bright and lively, were focused. He held his hand stretched out before him, and with his other, mimed a circle with a finger that spun clockwise. A translucent cylindrical barrier shimmered into existence around the pair.

The boy, Aragaki Kyosuke, nodded. "T-Ten seconds."

"Hadoken! Our lovable genius-slash-idiot! I'll miss you!" Tomoyuki wrapped the girl in a loose hug, which she happily reciprocated and tightened. It elicited a series of pained cries and laughs.

"Me~~ _guhhh_ ~~too!"

When Tomoyuki released her, Nejire's exposed skin was raw and bloodied; rivulets of blood dribbled freely onto her once pristine uniform. She hid her face behind her hands, gingerly dabbing at her eyes, as her hair coiled and uncoiled seemingly in distress.

"Aragaki! Release it, man!"

"I-It's not time yet!"

Tomoyuki fretted nervously around their class representative. "Are you okay, Hado?"

Trembling, Nejire moved her hands away and smiled. Gentle yet horrifying in the whole, it never once wavered.

That was until Minato realised that the duo had effectively been put on pause. Aragaki mimed his finger in an anti-clockwise direction, and like a slideshow reel in reverse, the events jerkily unplayed itself before his eyes, as did her injuries.

As the translucent barrier fell, Tomoyuki was red-eyed as he stared down at the still smiling Nejire. "Don't ever change," he said quietly. "Swear it."

"Okay~~"

Shortly after, Tomoyuki exchanged a more muted farewell with Minato before moving on. Missing however was the kind of kinship Tomoyuki shared with Nejire.

"It is a by-product of Tomoyuki's Quirk. Due to his heritage, his skin is—"

"—naturally abrasive; to the point that it becomes a danger to those who touch him."

He found two pairs of eyes looking at him blankly. It was the twin sisters seated in front of him and Nejire.

Identical down to the bone, Shiraishi Eresa and Erise were both fair-skinned girls with a shock of ashen hair that trailed down to their shoulders. That only made their eyes, red in the shade of rubies, stand out all the more. The one thing that set them apart however was the non-standard issued name tags affixed above the breast pocket of their uniforms.

"Nejire-san was the first in our class to initiate… 'skinship'."

Eresa placed a hand over her lips, miming a silent laughter. It was something her sister mirrored a beat later. "She wanted to touch his fin. She did not understand why it was so highly-valued."

"She tore off all the skin on her hand."

"It was quite a sight."

Both shivered, their expression freezing in mild delight.

Glancing around, Minato had to admit that it was disconcerting having to surround himself with a sea of new faces once more. It evoked a sense of familiarity, one that ached within his heart. In that blurry haze, obscuring threadbare memories, he half-expected familiar faces where there were none. Try as he might, he could never forget them. But things were different for him now.

He had friends to call his own in this world as well.

Momo had been the first—a steady companionship, albeit a reluctant one on his part initially, that had showed him what had been lost. Yu was the second—a hurricane he had unfortunately been swept in, and in the eye of that storm, unearthed what laid beneath.

Would there be—

Someone was poking his cheek. _Incessantly_.

"Arisato, stop spacing out~~"

He absently swatted Nejire's finger away and looked up. "Yes?"

"Would you care to—"

"—join us for lunch?"

"Let's have yakiniku!" Nejire said.

Minato shook his head, apologetic. "I'm sorry. Not today."

The twins frowned. They were soon joined in by Nejire as she scooched behind them and mashed their three heads together in an attempt at synchronised pouting. Neither of them seemed concerned, almost like it was a common occurrence.

The top of Mirio's head suddenly phased through the desk beside his; Minato tried not to act startled. "What's this I hear about yakiniku? There's this great place I know around the area. Cheap too!"

"I can't. I made plans with Mount Lady."

He had found himself in this position far too many times. Yet, the same choice lay before him now as it did then. The fear and the pain lingered, but he couldn't let it fester.

Elizabeth, his friends… They wouldn't want that for him.

In that void, hope rekindled.

"How about tomorrow?"

0.0

Exiting the passenger carriage, Minato heaved a sigh of relief as he extracted himself from the mass of onrushing salarymen and their ilk. Such was life in the capital, like a hive of worker bees returning to their queen; it was a veritable ecosystem unto itself.

He found Yu further ahead, just off the exit to the station, idly playing with her phone. Out of costume, she looked like a normal university student—her clothes fashionable yet practical for the season. In her free hand was a plastic carrier from the nearby J-Mart convenience store.

Without looking up from her phone, Yu held it out to him as he neared.

"Lunch?" Minato asked.

"Yeap, I even got us desserts. Hope you like store-bought dorayaki," Yu said, motioning him along. "I figured since it's the first day of your internship, we'd take it easy. So we're eating in today. It's about time I showed you the new digs."

"New digs?"

The pep returned in her step. "My— _Our_ ," she caught herself and stressed, "new office, dummy."

Silence lingered thereafter. It was unlike Yu, given how she was, but it wasn't a silence he'd called uncomfortable. The further they walked from the station, the more the crowd thinned. While they weren't necessarily in the city centre, Kita ward was situated near the outskirts of Tokyo; in terms of proximity, it was closer to Musutafu than Shibuya. As such, the crowd density was naturally lesser during the day, with the ward's only notable attractions being its metropolitan parks.

Yu breathed a happy sigh, looking up. "This is it."

She stopped before a nondescript building that loomed over them—all three stories of it. It was, in short, underwhelming. The small window sign publicising the presence of Mount Lady's agency was diminished by the massive advert of the popular and reputable cram school chain situated just next to her office.

_Jumon Learning Centre._

"You had a larger billboard outside UA."

"Marketing is about strategic placement," she said matter-of-factly. "It's a bit redundant building awareness here in Kita, don't you think?"

He shrugged. "It's a bit sad."

Yu grumbled unintelligibly, entering the building ahead of him. She bypassed the the elevator completely and took to the stairs two steps at a time. "It's good exercise. Elevators make you lazy."

"Does it have anything to do with the 'out-of-order' sign?"

"This place is a fixer-upper, Minato," Yu said, patting a pillar as they reached the third floor landing. "In its own way, it's kinda charming; adds character to the building."

She led him down a narrow corridor, walking past her nearest workplace competitor, and stood before an opaque glass door towards the end, right by the emergency exit. There wasn't an elaborate sign, just a small 'Hero Agency of Mount Lady' scored across the frosted glass panel. Slender fingers trailed underneath each character longingly.

"I'm proud of it," Yu said faintly, the barest hint of a smile reaching her lips. It was a rare sight to see her so soft-spoken; it actually gave him pause. "I'm proud of myself for having accomplished this, and I'm proud that I have you here with me, Minato."

He didn't know how to react.

Thankfully, Yu was already moving, unlocking the door and ushering him inside.

A blast of stale air greeted him the moment he entered. Looking around, Minato idly realised that her office was larger than it let on from the exterior of the building, but it was a simple room with four walls and nothing more.

Empty workstations, six to be exact, dominated the centre of the office. A singular wooden desk, sturdy and aged, was situated in the far corner, overlooking a reception area with a pair of couches sat in between a coffee table. There was a row of built-in bookshelves that lined the wall behind it, but in contrast, most of the space went unused except for a mess-laden nook filled with documents that was the very definition of ordered chaos.

It made him ill.

Worse, there were some obvious signs that the place looked lived in. A loose garment rack was placed along the side, flanked by a pair of heavy-set luggage and stacks of carton moving boxes.

Minato frowned, eyeing the small pillow and blanket draped haphazardly over one of the couches.

"Well, what do you think? I know it ain't much, but it's ours," Yu said. "Our home away from home. Oh, speaking of which…" She dug into her jeans, snugly fishing out a pair of keys from the pocket. 'Here's your apartment key."

"Keep it. It's a spare."

The blonde quirked a delicate eyebrow and pawed closer. "Oh? One would think this to be an indecent proposal, Minato. A boy on the cusp of adulthood…" She fluttered her eyelashes at him and leaned in close, her tone breathy as she punctuated each syllable, "An older, knowledgeable, irresistible—"

Minato brushed past her, setting his stuff down on one of the empty workstations. He then sidled over to the reception area to pick up and unfurl the unkempt blanket. He patted it down and tapered the visible creases before folding it neatly into a pile back onto the couch.

"Gawd~~ You're so sexy right now…"

He ignored her and started to putter around the office. "The keys are a precaution. So you won't wake up half the building next time."

Yu winced and sucked in a breath. "Yeah, that's what the dorayaki is for—an apology dessert."

"Is everything all right?" he asked her. "I wasn't expecting you last night."

"It was a bad day compounded by a terrible night of drinking. Stop trying to read into it, Minato," she said. "Besides, I know what you're doing. I'm not moving in with you. So don't look at me like I'm some homeless cat lady and take back your keys."

"You spent the last two nights at my place. I don't mind either way. It's your decision." Minato fiddled with the window latch and released the lock, allowing some fresh air and sunlight into the office. He paused to examine the view. "But if you decide otherwise, bring your own futon… and some rent money."

She scowled. "Mina—"

"Consider it a home away from home," Minato cut her off. "What's in here?" He gestured to a separate door within the room.

"It's just a utility closet. W-Wait! Don't open it!"

Unfortunately, he did and took a moment to process what he was seeing.

He stepped around the door and opened it fully, allowing the woman to view her secret shame in all its entirety. There were rows upon rows of opened boxes that contained shampoos and conditioners lining the width of utility closet; all modelled in the same motif as her Mount Lady costume. At the far corner, hidden behind more paraphernalia, he spied something better; a life-sized cut-out of Mount Lady promoting her named brand product.

He promptly took it out for her to see.

" _Guhhh…_ "

" _Lady Hair._ " Minato rolled his eyes. The title was purposefully made in English to make it sound fancy, but it was anything but. "For the beautiful you… Highlighting your outer beauty to reflect the inner you," he continued, reading the slogan aloud. "I've never seen this before."

Yu was hesitant.

"When I first started out, I was desperate, okay? My old business manager said that they'd pay good money to use my likeness, but the company tanked before they could even start distribution. To compensate me, well… long story short, I pretty much have a lifetime supply of shampoo and conditioner." Yu snatched away the bottle he was examining. "For what it's worth, it's actually a really good product," she said begrudgingly. "You can take a box if you want."

Minato turned to peer into the mess that was her utility closet and then back at the office. He hid a sigh.

"We're cleaning your office."

" _Our office!_ "

Minato rolled his eyes at her.

0.0

It was a more arduous task than Arisato Minato had first imagined.

By the time they were done with their spring cleaning, the skies above had lost its colour, and in its place, faded to black. What had been their lunch instead became their dinner. Cold as it was, it was a fine reward for their efforts today.

A step lower than an orderly office, but a welcomed one nonetheless.

Both of them had situated themselves at Yu's desk in the far corner, with Minato having planted himself on her seat and Yu taking one of the other chairs from the empty workstations. In between sorting the mountain of documents piled atop her desk, he munched on Yu's apology dessert of red bean dorayaki and pointedly tried to ignore his boss.

"Yeah, I mean the design is similar, but there are nuances to your costume, Minato." Yu gestured wildly at the sketchpad she was shoving in his face. "Nuances to make it looks more masculine. We're maintaining the same colour palette, but the hues will be darker. It will look amazing!"

As annoyed as he was with her right now, Minato couldn't deny that Yu had a hidden talent for the arts. It was actually an impressive sketch of him—content notwithstanding.

"I will not," he stressed again slowly, "dress up like you and call myself Mount Laddie."

"Minato, I will love you forever if you do this for me, like 'buy you lunch and dinner everyday' kinda love. This is our only chance at forming a hero dynasty."

"No."

"Just the name then?"

"Yu…"

She let out a lip-trill and retreated into the crook of her arm in apparent dejection. "Then you gotta fill this out on your own," she told him, blindly handing him a form.

Minato gave it a cursory read-through and reached for a pen. It was an application for his Provisional Hero License. Most of the details had already been pre-filled for him. The only exception being his hero name and costume. Strangely, his Quirk was listed as _TBA_.

Given the recent turn of events, he hadn't given his chosen profession much thought. A costume was simple. He worked best fitted with a set-up similar to how he operated during his SEES days; armour, preferably light, that favoured mobility.

Minato wrote down as much.

His hand lingered over the name column. He made to write something, but Yu stopped him.

"Whoa!" she said, reaching over to grab him by the wrist. "Wanna run it by me first? Hero names aren't permanent, but the first one tends to stick."

"I was going to put my name."

Yu shook her head, frowning. "I'd rather you didn't. Your Pro Hero name is important. It carries weight, it defines who you are, but most importantly, it won't drive you batshit insane."

Minato blinked. "What?"

"I'm not joking," she said, as she leaned back into her seat. "Pro Heroes are public figures. Some people may see it as a job or a calling, but there's no escaping the hang ups that come with being in the public eye; it's part and parcel of the job. That's why we hide our identities."

"But it's not hard to figure out who you are, Yu."

"Minato, I lived in a small resort town in Hokkaido. I'm pretty sure everyone back home knows who I am. My Quirk isn't something that's easy to hide; I wasn't actively hiding it either."

"Then is there really a point?"

"I'm not saying I have the right answers," Yu explained with a huff. "It's complicated. I'm just giving you my take on it. Mount Lady, the Pro Hero, is a mask and a costume. She's not Takeyama Yu, but Takeyama Yu _is_ Mount Lady. You need that distinction. Do you get what I mean?

"I know it sounds insincere coming from me, but a Pro Hero cannot be allowed to be anything less than perfect. This is the perception society has of our role. We have to be the embodiment of justice, of righteousness, of everything good that humanity stands for _._ _We are that ideal_ ," she emphasised with her hands. "But embodying that ideal, it's… to become something beyond human."

Her violet eyes were downcast, sombre.

"Honestly, I can't be that... I won't ever be that, but I want that for her—for Mount Lady—and to not just allow it to be wishful thinking. I think it's easier to reconcile who I am as a person and who I am as a Pro Hero. I mean, it's two sides of the same coin, but it helps."

Yu placed her hands over his and smiled softly. "I guess what I'm trying to say is Arisato Minato is a hero, but don't confuse him as a Pro Hero. Having to _always_ live up to that ideal… It will break you in the end."

Minato opened his mouth to say something, anything, but not for a lack of trying, the words failed to reach him. In a world populated by heroes, he once believed he understood what it meant to be one—better than anyone. However, the choice he had made in the end, standing in the eclipse of The Fall…

It was selfless, but it wasn't altruistic.

He didn't do it out of the goodness of his heart, or for the sake of an impossible ideal, his was an act borne out of necessity—a necessity to protect the irreplaceable bonds he had forged.

Had it been anyone else in his position, would they have done the same?

"If you had a choice," Minato started, his voice faint, "to save the world from destroying itself, would you give up your life, knowing that in perpetuity, humanity would never change and they would never know of the sacrifice that you made?"

Yu drew her hands back and let out a breath like she had been punched. "Fuhhh~~ That's a toughie. I've always hated these weird ethical dilemma questions, but what the heck…"

She stole his pen and started to sketch something on her sketchpad.

The first illustration was of a globe, with tiny people holding hands across the top of it. She cancelled one, violently striking him off the page, and circled the rest.

"Rationally speaking, trading one life for the entire world sounds like a no-brainer, but to devalue that life that has to be sacrificed, it's a disservice to the individual."

Yu then motioned to the face she had drawn, one with an exaggerated frown. Slowly, the face was given more details; long hair, styled like hers, a domino mask, and horns even.

"People are more willing and conscious to do good, if there's recognition attached to their actions. I was— _I am_ —shamefully one of them, Minato. Is that necessarily a bad thing? I dunno… But doing good things for selfish reasons sounds like a weird paradox, you know? Then again, you just sacrificed yourself to save the world, does the motivation even matter at this point?"

Yu pulled back her sketchpad and started on something else. When she finally put her pen down, he bore witness to the globe imploding, with dozens of little people strewn across the world with tiny 'x' in place of their eyes.

"Then again, the world is going to end even if you didn't make that sacrifice, right?" she asked him.

"Yes."

Yu stared at him, her gaze inscrutable but sharp, as she rested her chin over her fingers. "The decision not to save the world becomes moot; it becomes illogical. Unless… you believe that the world should end, that humanity deserves their most obvious conclusion—inviting their own self-destruction."

The sharpness of her gaze dulled and she leaned back into her chair, staring at the ceiling.

"But since you're asking me personally… Yeah, I guess I would sacrifice myself. Would I be doing it for the right reasons? Partly, even unconsciously maybe. But in the end, I'd do it for the obvious one. I'd do it for the people I love—for the ones that I care about most. I'd do it for papa and mama, and for you, Minato."

Yu smiled devilishly. "Because even when I die, I have Mount Laddie to continue my legacy."

Minato sighed, shaking his head.

In the end, everyone had their reasons. What mattered most was their actions; if nothing else, actions beholden only to themselves. A legacy would have been built atop that sacrifice. Even if few—or none—remembered, that legacy would live on.

"Thank you," Minato said. "Things are… clearer now."

"I can't tell if you're just humouring me." Yu crinkled her nose, asking him, "You are, aren't you?"

Standing, Minato scribbled down his hero name and lightly tossed the pen back at her. With that, he started to collect their food waste for disposal.

Yu hurriedly snatched the application form. When she set it down, she gave him an indifferent look. "Well, it's not terrible. I could think of a few better. Mount Laddie being one of them."

"I like mine better," he said, smiling. "It think it suits me…"

" _Seriously?_ What kind of name is _—?_ "

* * *

_Queen of Wands_

* * *

* * *

_Queen of Wands_

* * *


End file.
